Itachi: Prodigy Exams
by Storm0Wolf
Summary: The Uchiha prodigy Itachi graduated from the Acadamy at 7, now at 10 he's taking the Chunnin Exams. Only this time all the villages are sending their most talented Gennin making this the "Prodigy Exams".
1. Team Leaf: Children of the Bloodline

To put it lightly, Itachi Uchiha was irritated. He sat patiently, back straight, hands in his lap, waiting to meet his teacher and new teammates. Under the cool shade of the tall flexible trees, he should have felt calm, peaceful, but they were late. Very late. Again.

With a sigh Itachi relaxed his posture, allowing his back to slouch and his senses to relax. If he was going to sit out here and wait, he was going to do it without stress. He had graduated exactly three years, two hundred seventeen days, one hour and twenty four seconds ago from Kohana's Ninja Academy. Words couldn't express his euphoria at escaping that boring schoolhouse where his teacher felt more like a babysitter than a shinobi.

The grass felt prickly under his hands, brushing against his legs as a light wind blew. Itachi closed his eyes and tipped his head upwards, listening to the sharp cry of birds, the distant hum of the marketplace, and the random ruffle of leaves.

Itachi Uchiha decided to take the Chunnin Exams this year, well, it wasn't as much of his choice as of the elders and his father. His older teammates, both four years older than him, had decided to wait another year. Itachi wouldn't have been able to participate if two other young Gennin weren't in the same situation. He knew nothing of his new teammates other than one was male and the other, female. He had heard rumors from his old teammates that one of them may have been able to use the Omigan, the Black Vision technique and from his other that one was a Hyuuga. Itachi scoffed at the idea, they were not very reliable resources.

Light footsteps became louder as someone neared him. Two people, he knew without opening his eyes, he didn't know how he knew, he just simply did. Itachi opened both his eyes, black orbs curiously watching as the figures approached. The first was his usual sensei Shinku Yuhi, a stern man with scarlet red eyes and curly black hair. Itachi found it hard to believe that this stern, cold, harsh man had a daughter who was carefree and kind.

"Itachi." Shinku barked out, eyes narrowing at the boy's lazy appearance. How he despised languor with a passion, determined to beat it out of his students if he had to. Itachi quickly stood, bowing respectfully. Shinku reminded Itachi a bit of his father when he said his name like that, and he utterly loathed him for it. "Meet your new teammate, Hibiki Donzuko."

Itachi straightened out his back, curiously analyzing the boy who stood behind his, their, teacher. They must have been around the same age, Itachi noted, and that Hibiki must have been shorter than him by a few inches at least, and his long white pants and brown long sleeve shirt made him look smaller, more childlike. . His hair,like Itachi's ,was pulled back only to the side so that part of his hair was coving his listless left eye. Itachi felt a jolt of shock cover him. Hibiki was blind.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Itachi san." Hibiki tilted his head in Itachi's direction, his eyes not moving. Never had Itachi met a shinobi with such a disability. He had worked with mutes, the mentally unstable, the deaf, and once a man with only one arm. Never blindness, Itachi could only shudder at the thought of being sightless, unable to see his enemy. As a Sharingan user Itachi relied heavily on his eyes, and knew that if he ever lost his vision his days as a shinobi were over.

But, always polite Itachi answered Hibiki with a polite, "Likewise."

A crash came from behind them, and a girl with pixie cut brown hair stumbled towards them, her chest rising and falling as she breathed deeply. Itachi blinked for a moment, studying the girl's features. She was short, and older than Itachi and Hibiki by a good two years at least, evident by her matured figure poking out from under her open white jacket and tight light green tank top. He instantly identified her as a Hyuuga, her pupil less eyes, main branch, since her forehead was bear and her head back acted as a bracelet instead.

"Ah, finally joining us are we Jinki?" sneered Shinku, clear annoyance leaking from his mouth. Jinki only sighed, placing a hand on her hip and flashing them a smile.

"Yeah, sorry, but you know how it is with the Elders." She replied, ignoring that the question was rhetorical, hunching over she made her voice low and mocking, "Jinki don't embarrass us, remember your statues. Hyuuga's don't slouch, sit up straight Jinki! Don't use such meretricious language, your mother taught you better than that!"

Hibiki's lips twitched into a slight smile, and Itachi rolled his eyes. He had heard of Jinki before, her father was one of the Hyuuga council members, and she was the rebel of the Hyuuga clan.

Shinku's lips pursed into a thin line, "Yes, well now that you're all here we can have a formal introduction. Give your name, and one thing about you." Hibiki took a step away from Shinku, seeming completely comfortable with the situation.

"What about our Jutsu and stuff? Not that I think you guys are weak or anything but I don't want to just walk into the Chunnin Exams and have no idea what you can or can't do." Jinki whined.

"That, my dear Jinki," The sarcasm in his voice made her snicker, "You will find out in battle."

"Battle?" Itachi questioned, raising an eyebrow questioningly. He threw a quick glance at Hibiki, slightly worried. As one never to underestimate his opponent, Itachi reasoned that Hibiki must have been able to care for himself if he was standing here. That single thought made Itachi wonder what exactly it was he could do. Jinki obviously used the Byakugan, and he the Sharingan, but the Donzuko were a small clan of only three or four families, it wasn't even clear if they had their own special Jutsu.

"What better way to understand your teammates fighting style than experiencing it from the receiving end?" Shinku said shrugging his shoulders to show that it was a simple concept.

"Me first!" Jinki yelled, waving her hand madly in the air. "My name is Jinki Hyuuga, and I like standing on my head and letting all the blood rush to my brain!" She said proudly, ignoring the two weird stares she was given, and the audible sigh from another. "Now!" she said dramatically pointing to Itachi, "I choose you!"

"My name is Itachi Uchiha, and I am the heir to the Uchiha clan." He said simply, watching Hibiki flinch slightly.

"I'm Hibiki Donzuko, and I'm blind." Hibiki sighed, running his fingers through his hair as Jinki started making unintelligent sounds. Hibiki snorted slightly, "No I have never been able to I didn't have an accident and yes I can sense where you are. Finally no, I cannot read your mind."

Hibiki had been asked those questions all his life, "Have you always been blind?" "Did something happen to you?" "How do you know how I'm sitting if you can't see me?" But there was one question that he hated more than anything,

"Do you need help?"

It was simple yet degrading. He was a shinobi, a blind one, but still a shinobi. He could handle himself.

"Good, now that we're all properly introduced let's start your practice battle. You're field is this clearing, and you have a time limit of two hours."

"Fine."

"Hell Yeah!"

"Yes, sensei

"Begin!"

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><p><strong>Hi everyone that's reading this! For all of you who sent in your characters they'll be introduced into the story bit by bit. I do not own any of these characters, some who belong to the creators of Naruto and others who belong to other authors on this site. <strong>

**Fun Fact: Although Jinki is the oldest of the Leaf team (Itachi: 10, Hibiki: 10, Jinki: 12) she is the shortest and most inexperienced, only recently graduating from the Ninja Academy.**


	2. Team Sand: Book of Value

Haruhi Kinimoto sat with her back to her teammates, eyes closed as the desert wind brushed her long red hair, pushing it behind her shoulders. Opening her light blue eyes she turned around quickly as she head a crushing noise behind her.

The Fourth Kazekage stood at the edge of the roof, eyeing them all fiercely. Haruhi quickly fell to a single knee, head bowed in respect for her great leader. Her teammate Ima snorted at the gesture, her perfect pink lips twisting up into a sneer. Dark purple hair fluttering in the sandy breeze, Ima stood and dusted herself off, nodding to the Fourth. Inwardly disgusted and angered by this lack of proper respect, Haruhi straighten her left leg, which was adorned with a exquisite design of a dragon, eyes narrowed at her egotistical rival.

Feeling the girl's glare on her back, Imu shivered but not out of fear, her blue eyes overflowing with excitement at the fight she knew was sure to erupt if she continued to show little respect to her leader. Oh how she'd love to show that bratty witch just who was the superior serpent mistress.

"Hello Haruhi, Imu, and Choko. I assume you all know why you're here." He said, voice leaking with authority. Both girls nodded, while the third, Choko Nazasuki shook her head like a bobblehead, green hair cut short in the back and long to frame her face in the front falling over strange orange eyes.

"Of course, Kazekage sama."Haruhi said, pulling a scroll sealed by a stamp with the Sand Village insignia. When the team first received it she had read it over twice, instantly memorizing the contents the first time and the second time just to make sure it was real.

"Well then, I have only come to wish you good luck, you'll be leaving out in two nights time, correct?" The Fourth Kazekage shifted his gaze to the heavens, robes swaying in the light breeze.

"Yep in exactally thirty seven hours, twelve minutes, and three seconds. I can't wait!" Choko confirmed, bouncing up and down on her heels, short green skirt lifting up slightly. Ima, being much taller and older, placed her palm firmly on the top of Choko's head.

"Now now Choko," Ima said with a sweet smile, "stay calm, darling, we must prove to our Kazekage that he has nothing to worry about. He chose us for a reason; we mustn't make him doubt his decision."

Shuddering slightly under Ima's grasp, Choko nodded, used to Ima's manipulative behavior. She had once been under Ima's spell, seeing her as the perfect, powerful, gorgous ninja everyone saw her to be, but watching her battle had opened Choko's eyes. She saw the real Ima , and it scared her.

"Yes, don't disappoint me. There is another reason why I'm here." The Kazakage pulled out a small booklet tossing it to Haruhi who caught it subconsciously. Her two teammates blurred to her side, hot breath toasting her neck as she flipped to the fist page. "That is a list of the suspected participants of this year's exams. Use that information wisely." With that he turned his back to them, and left.

Haruhi looked through the book with unusual levels of intrest. There were only two cloud ninja listed, without a third the team could not compete, so deeming them unimportant, Haruhi turned the page. The leaf village had a full squad so they started there.

The first picture was of a dark haired boy, some of his hair covering his left eye.

"Name Hakabi Donzuko. Gennin rank. Age: 10. Donzuko clan. Apperance: Dark hair (blue/black?) off white eyes, height: 4ft 8 in. Extreme sensory abilities, Weapons: senbon, Summon: NA. Other: Subject is suspected of having physical disability, but was never identified." Imu read out loud, voice ringing with happiness. Haruhi could not blame her, this information was like finding a diamond kunai, valuable and rare. The Kazekage must have taken a lot of risk to send spies to get this information, the thought made her feel warm on the inside, a microscopic smile tainting her usually detached mask.

"This is great! Just think of all the trouble this will save us! Oh man now I really can.." Choko started, dancing away from them and gabbering with no signs of stopping. This time it was Haruhi who interrupted her.

"Stop it Choko-chan. We don't have time to waste, we must quickly memorize this information." Haruhi said, her blue eyes boring into Choko's orange ones.

"Memorize," Imu snorted, twirling a strand of purple hair in her finger. "what for?"

"Well we shouldn't risk taking this with us, it will only serve as a liability if another team gets a hold of it." Haruhi snapped, closing her eyes tightly. She felt tired again, so very tired, and it was making her moody. How she wished she had the control over her actions and emotion as her younger self had, before this cursed thing called puberty began clinging to her.

"Whatever, just read off the next runt." Imu growled out.

"Name: Junki Hyuuga. Gennin Rank. Age: 12. Hyuuga Clan. Appearance: standard Hyuuga eye color, short brown hair, height: 5ft 0in. Uses standard Hyuuga techniques, but Byakugan is weak in range, but strong in clarity. Weapons: NA. Summon: NA. Other: Easily provoked." Haruhi read quickly, losing interest after reading the girls name. Hyuuga's were all the same, ability wise anyway, if you fought one you fought them all.

"Wow, this team sucks." Ima laughed cruelly, crossing her legs as she sat down. " A sensor and a Hyuuga, what else do they have, a Yakamara?"

"Oh, don't be mean Ima! We don't know if..um…Har..Hari..Harito..Harashi.." Choko slowly began mumbling names, until Harashi corrected her. "Oh yeah, Habiki. We don't know if Habiki is an actual sensor, he just is really good at it." Choko tapped her chin and nodded wisely to herself at a logic only she could understand.

"Oh shut up you pathetic little bug." Ima said it in such a sweet and loving tone that it was hard to be taken as an insult, although it was clearly meant to be one.

"Don't speak to her like that, Ima, she's our comrade and should be treated as your equal, not your servent." Haruhi said in a low tone, eyes flickering over to the crystal eyed beauty.

Ima bristled, popping up and placing her hands on her hips, tattoo of a green water serpent twisting around her slim arm. "Don't order me around, Haruhi. You have no authority here, street rat!"

"Street rat?" Haruhi growled, slamming the book shut, ignoring the waves of exhaustion crashing inside of her. "I am not a street rat, Ima, and if you ever call me that again, I'll kill you." The eye of the dragon tattoo on Haruhi's leg seemed to shift to glare at Imu. Choko whimpered, taking a step away from the two rivals, who were now nose to nose.

"Of course your not a street rat, dear Haruhi, after all it's not like you just wandered up to the gates of the village, begging for sanctuary in nothing but stolen rags. After what your home village did for you, trained you into, I'm surprised they let you go so easily. You must have been a complete failure in their eyes, huh?" Imu laughed, hand slipping behind her to grab a kunai from it's holster, paling when Haruhi had already placed her own kunai at her neck.

"Never. Ever. Speak of my past again. I don't care if you are on my team, I could kill easily." Haruhi hissed, her eyes bleeding red; pupil shaped similarly to a lizards. Imu's eyes shone with taunting laughter, egging Haruhi on.

Choko rushed ot Haruhi's side, tugging on her arm. "Don't Haruhi, you don't really want to go though all the trouble for murder?" She begged, desperate to separate them. What were the elders thinking putting them on the same team?

"I won't get caught." Haruhi said curtly, but replaced the knife in it's holster and sat back down to continue reading the book. Imu, disappointed, shot Choko an irritated look.

"This doesn't concern you, Choko, stay out of it." she hissed, and puffed away without another word.

"Haruhi?" Not reciving an answer from her teammate, Choko sighed, "I'm sorry about her." for once the normally peppy Choko walked, leaving Haruhi alone with her thoughts.

Haruhi waited until her chakra was completely gone, before reopening the book to the last member of the leaf candidates. She chocked in a gasp of air and stared at the most handsome boy she had ever seen. His eyes though, black steel that blocked all outsiders from seeing into his soul, made her heart pound.

Name: Itachi Uchiha. Gennin rank. Age: 10. Uchiha clan. Apperance: long black hair, black eyes, pale skin, Height: 5ft 1in. Overall prodigy, unbeatable in Gen, Nin, and Ti Jutsu. Weapons: Unlimited. Summon: NA. Other: Subject is considered to be the perfect ninja. Sharingan is unmatched, and is highly intelligent

Haruhi almost laughed at the last part, how could she not look into his eyes. So dark, stubborn, guarded, and hurt. They were just like her's. Her eyes traveled farther down the page and blached in horror. In bold print letters were the words:

Warning upon seeing this ninja, abort the mission at all cost, do not engage.

Was he really that powerful?

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><p><strong>Hi again! So thanks for reading this, and thanks even more to everyone who sent in a character. By the way, Haruhi's crush is onesided, Itachi hasn't met her yet so just because she likes him doesn't guarentee that's how the story will go.<strong>

**Fun Fact: Imu was based on the Character Rebecca from the book "Rebecca" written by Daphne Du Maurier. And Choko was based on the Beatrice from the same book (Huge coincidence actually, i almost died laughing when i read the applications.)**

**So yeah, the story is mainly about Itachi, but i need to introduce the characters first, so next chapter will have Itachi in it. So fangirls you'll have to wait just a bit longer. REVIEW REVIEW REVEIW**


	3. Team Leaf: Day Before Departure

Itachi quickly bounded out of Junki's reach as she leaped, gracefully, from side to side, thrusting her palms towards him. They had been replaying this tiresome dance since the beginning of the spar, Itachi dodging her hits before penetrating her defenses and knocking her off her feet. Then they would start again. Junki's Byakugan focused solely on Itachi's movements, while his Sharingan seemed to lazily watch her.

"You're really good," Junki panted, Itachi dropped low, swinging a foot under her. Jumping high and landing on a tree, Junki repositioned herself, before lunging, palm outward, towards him. "That Sharingan of yours, must be a real help, huh?"

"Indeed." Itachi brought his arm up, redirecting her entire body before throwing her over his shoulder. She groaned, laying face up towards the sun. Itachi offered his hand, which she took. With a smirk she yanked him down beside her, rolling over to pin his hands to his back. Swinging his leg behind him, his heel connected with her lower back. She released his hands on instinct, gasping when his foot connected with her back harder this time. Jumping up, she flipped to the other side of the field to catch her breath. Itachi stood dusting off his clothes, the smallest bead of sweat tracing down his cheek. His head shot up, instantly alert.

"What is it?" Junki yelped, twisting to the side clumsily as a group of oddly shaped senbon were thrown at her. Looking behind her and beside her at the same time, Junki cursed, the thrower was out of her range.

Although Junki was a Hyuuga of the main branch gifted with the Byakugan, her's was a bit defaulted. Her clarity was unsurpassed; she could see every detail of the smallest leaf, even the cells that made up it's gentic makeup. Her range, though, was pathetically limited to twenty meters.

Itachi's quick footsteps startled her out of her thoughts. His fingers plucked one on the senbon that were lodged into the ground, twirling in his fingers as he inspected it. It was shaped like a standard senbon, but threaded in the end was a empty transparent ball, that would click open upon impact. Both of the preteens confused of it's purpose.

"Those are normally filled with poison, or knock out gas." A voice answered their silent question. Itachi turned around to see Hibiki, standing under the shade of the forest. Junki, not wanting to reveal her weakness, pretended to see him with the Byakugan.

"So I suppose that makes you a long range fighter?" Itachi questioned, he was still unsure about how to act around Hibiki. He was, to say the least, impressed though. Hibiki had waited until Junki and he were so wrapped up in their own hand to hand battle that they forgot him, and ignored his presence altogether making them easy targets once they became tired. An excellent strategy, one that required patience.

"Yeah," He dipped his head in his direction, walking forward calmly and as if he could see them, stopped right in front of them.

"Alright, that's enough! Go home and get ready, we leave out tomorrow." Shinku barked, glancing at his watch. Itachi rolled his eyes knowingly, Shinku had somewhere to go and didn't trust them to train on their own.

Junki stretched, rolling her shoulders before walking to their side. "So are all your senbon like that?" She questioned, holding one by the ball. He shrugged, jerking his arm forward a senbon slid from under the sleeve of his shirt appearing in his palm. This one, Itachi noted branched off to three points.

"What's that one for?" Junki asked, snatching it from him, completely unfazed he shrugged.

"It rips though the body, causing more damage." He said, and once again another needle appeared from his sleeve, thicker and longer than the rest. "This one has a slim poison vial in it, the moment the needle penetrates the skin the poison is released directly into the body."

"Cool, that's like what a snake does to rats before they eat them!" Junki yelled, ignoring Itachi's surprised look, and Hibiki's confused face. She waved, skipping around them, "Well this is my turn off, bye bye boys!"

Itachi watched her go, Hibiki waving from his spot. Silently they continued their walk, Itachi kicking a rock that was placed in his path. Hibiki completely fascinated him, not only could he somehow sense their locations, but he could use weapons effectively as well.

"I could tell from the heat on the field that you favor Fire style nin jutsu, and the constant disturbances in Junki's chakra show you're skilled at Gen Jutsu as well. Do you have a preferred weapon?" Hibiki asked as they passed though the market place. Itachi stiffened, surprised at the sudden vapioration of silence.

"No, kunai and shurikin are all I use."

"I see." Hibiki said ironicly. Itachi almost winced at the blunt mention of sight when Hibiki clearly had none. Still, the question was left unanswered, just how does Hibiki know where everything is, as if he had normal vision? Itachi said his goodbyes as they passed the Uchiha complex on the outskirts of town, and watched, confused, as Hibiki kept walking towards the gate.

"Yo, Itachi!" someone tackled him from behind. Itachi quickly turned them, so he landed on top. Shisui grunted, shoving Itachi off of him playfully. Sitting up, his messy black hair was sprinkled with dirt. "You've got to see what Sasuke's doing, it's hilarious! He's interrogating his dinosaur to find to find out where it hid the blocks!"

Itachi allowed a small smile to grace his lips, following his talkative cousin though the Uchiha compound as they discussed, rather childishly, Sasuke's investigation.

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><p>"Father, what do you know about the Donzuko clan?" Itachi placed his chopsticks down beside his empty plate. His mother was trying to coax Sasuke into eating his rice instead of tossing it into the air like confetti.<p>

"Hm, the Donzuko are a particular clan. Why the sudden interest?" Fugaku refolded his hands into the sleeves of his shirt, back painfully straight, and face set in a natural stern frown. Itachi never asked about clan matters, nor did he ask about other clans. Fugaku just assumed he knew, he was after all a genius.

"One of my teammates, Hibiki Donzuko, is from the clan." Itachi replied bluntly. He had a hunch that they had some type of special jutsu that would explain Hibiki's ability to see without seeing. Fugaku looked upward, thoughtful.

"The Donzuko clan is known for their sensors, it's been rumored that they may be descendents of the Yakamara clan, but that was never proven. They live outside of the village walls, it'll be harder for an enemy to sneak past an entire clan of sensory ninja. Well, that's the thought behind it anyway." Fugaku grunted and stood up from the table, thanking his wife for the food, and patting Sasuke on the head.

"Itachi," Mikito called, pulling pieces of rice from her hand, "can you finish feeding Sasuke while I prepare his bath?"

"Of course, mother." Itachi stided over to his younger brother, a soft smile on his face as Sasuke attempted to say his name in his five year old lisp. With a grateful smile, Mikito rushed from the kitchen.

" 'Tachi!" Sasuke yelled, kicking his legs back and forth. " 'Tachi, listen!"

"Yes, Sasuke?" Itachi gave the small boy his full attention as he explained his daring investigation of the missing yellow blocks and the dastardly stuffed, green dinosaur.

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><p><strong>I can't wait until next chapter, I'm excited about introducing all the characters to one another, including a few you guys haven't met yet! Review!<strong>


	4. Team Cloud Meets Team Sand

"Alright, get in a single file line with your teammates to register for the Chunnin Exams. If you've already signed up, then please head to room R103." A man yelled from behind the registration table. Haruhi, Choko, and Imu stood huddled together in the mass of talking gennin.

Choko talked quickly and rather loudly to Haruhi about her excitement. They had pointed out people they had saw in the book to one another, mentally going over what they knew about them. Haruhi had suggested, ordered, that they left the book behind in the Sand Village so it didn't fall into the wrong hands. Imu, ignored her, opting to bring the book on her own. The moment Haruhi saw her reading it on the trip, a violent tension covered them only to be broken by Choko's naïve nature.

Imu flashed a smile at a group of all gennin boys as they whispered and pointed towards her. Throwing a flirtatious wink their way, she inwardly laughed as the tallest one blushed.

"Oof!" A girl with long black hair and straight bangs bumped her from behind, causing Imu to tumble forward, her purple hair flying wildly around her. The girl reached for her to stop her fall, her long pale fingers only brushing Imu's weapon pouch. Imu fell onto the tile, her arms holding up her upper body so her face didn't crash onto the ground.

"Oops, sorry about that!" The girl's pink eyes widened, her sleeveless, white Kimono was tied with a dark pink obi showing off her petie frame. Holding out her white, fingerless gloved hand Imu could tell from the metal plating on her knuckle that she was from the Village hidden in the Clouds. Embarrassed and angry Imu shoved her hand away, standing up and smoothing her mini skirt back into place.

"Watch it, cloud ninja." She spat, her voice burning like the venom of the cottonmouth snake. The girl looked surprised, but then narrowed her eyes at Imu, an cold aura suddenly leaking off of her. Contrasting with the warm aura Imu felt moments ago.

"Sorry," The girl said quietly, not meeting Imu's harsh glare. She bit her lip, partly because she was a embaressed and partly because of habit.

"Don't be rude, Imu, it was an accident." Haruhi stepped towards them, leaving Choko to hold their place in line. She then turned to the other girl, "I apologize for my teammates rudeness. My name is Haruhi Kinimoto, and this is my teammate Imu Watakuchi."

"I'm Amai Yoshida, and those are my teammates over there; Urami Yoshida and Raiden Kiyomizu." She shyly pointed over towards two people. Imu grumbled irritably about her being a klutzy bastard, but shut up when Haruhi threw her a warning look. Scoffing, Imu spun on her heels and returned to Choko's side, mentally promising to make Amai pay for the incident.

Haruhi, on the other hand, already knew the girl's name, but just wanted to make sure the information given to her had been correct. The book had told her that Amai and Urami were twins with similar abilities, what that ability was though was not known.

Urami had a similar appearance had a similar appearance to her sister, their clothing being the exact same. The only difference was their eyes, where Amai's were blank and her sister's were joyful.

The boy, Raiden, a white haired boy with electrifying grey eyes and canine like silver markings from his temple to his hairline. Overall nothing was know of this boy. Like his teammates, his outfit was somewhat formal, consisting of a short white yukata shirt with dark blue bands bordering it. Nothing was known about his abilities but by the Kanata strapped on his hip he had some kind of sword abilities.

"It must be a hassle trying to keep her in line all the time huh?" Amai asked quietly, her pink eyes staring straight at Imu with a small hint of intrest. She didn't like that girl, Imu.

"Yeah." Haruhi agreed, walking away from her without another word, it was their turn to fill out the paperwork. Amai smiled at her retreating form, once Haruhi was lost in the crowd her smile dropped into a more familiar blank face, walking calmly over to her sister. Raiden looked up at her, giving her a small smile in acknowledgement. Her sister looked at her expectantly.

"Nice job, Amai, it didn't look like anyone expected anything." Raiden grinned, nodding towards the item Amai held behind her back. Amai only hummed in agreement, pulling a small book from behind her back. Her sister, Urami hugged her tightly, not affected at all by her sister's stiff posture.

"So is it what you expected Raiden?" Amai questioned bluntly, handing the book over to the snow haired boy. He flipped through the pages, grin spreading like wild fire.

"Yeah, it's just as I thought. A book with information on the other candidates. Great work, Urami." He pocketed the book as Choko, Haruhi, and Imu walked by, their paperwork finished. "That innocent act really works, huh Amai? It could be useful down the road."

Amai, eyes now back to their normal cold and emotionless gleam, nodded not saying a word. Urami laughed at her side, she could read Amai like a book.

"You know, Amai, you shouldn't plot the demise of your enemy this early in the game. It'll only disappoint you if you don't get a chance to face her in battle." Urami chuckled nervously, hoping this would make her sister think twice before she got into one of her moods again. Urami loved her sister with a passion, but whenever she got that look in her eye it was always followed by someone dying a painful noisy death.

Amai only grunted and moved forward with the line, leaving her sister and teammate behind. Raiden placed a hand on Urami's shoulder and flashed her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, if she gets out of hand I can contain her." He whispered, reminding her why he was team leader. He had orders from the Riakage to control Amai by all means necessary. Urami nodded and smirked.

"And don't _you_ worry Raiden, I won't tell anyone about Orochimaru." Urami laughed loudly as Raiden stuttered out in confusion, eyes wide with fear at her knowledge. She continued laughing, and continued in a low voice, "As long as my sister is safe, I won't say anything. Remember that." She walked forward to stand once again by her sister's side.

Don't get her wrong she liked Raiden, he was a really cool guy, but her sister came first. Her sister always came first.

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><p><strong>Hey peoples, two reveiws that are less than three days apart! That's really good for me, anyway i had to break this chapter into two parts since it was so long, so the next part will be released soon. <strong>

**Fun Fact: Amai and Urami are identical twins, they look the same, they sound the same, they dress the same. The only way to tell them apart is by their hair style and their eyes. Urami's are cold and distant while Amai's are more joyful.**

**Thanks for reading! I don't need any more characters though, so sorry for anyone who was planning to send one in. Read and Review!**


	5. The Exams Begin

Leaning calmly against the wooden desk Kenpu, mismatched green and blue eyes taking in the mass of people around him. The exams were packed this year, not that he had taken them before. His blond hair hiding his unusual eyes from the world, he glanced at the newest member of his team, Natsumi Uzumaki. The girl's blue hair was held in a side pony tail, was currently being stroked by his dirty blonde teammate of two years, Hakuro Arashi. The two girls giggled, completely ignoring the tense and nervous air that suffocated the room. Natsumi's turquoise eyes slid over to him for a moment before returing to look at Hakuro.

"Yo, dude, tell your sister and her friend to shut up already!" A rain gennin snapped at him, glaring harshly the pair. Kinpu scoffed, flashing the boy a set of sharpened teeth. The gennin only glared at him, turning away to sulk.

Kinpu was used to being mistaken for the Hakuro's sister. They both have dirty blond hair, and fair skin. Since only a selected few, Natsumi not included, had seen his eyes so many just assumed they were dark green like Hakuro's but that was only half correct.

The middle of the room exploded and four men draped in grey uniforms surrounded an orange haired women wearing heavily armed clothing. The room fell silent as her tangerine eyes scanned the room with slight interest.

"Let's see, boys, who do you think is going to pass my test?" She drawled to the Chunnin surrounding her, they snickered loudly, making some of the younger Gennin shudder. Hakuro rolled her eyes, scoffing at the obvious intimidation technique. The women's eyes snapped over to her, smirking slightly. "Well, let's get this over with, I have places to go, men to kill that sort of thing, you know."

The Gennin all remained silent, the only sound was a nervous cough from behind them. One of the Chunnin stepped forward, then proceeded to project his voice so everyone could here.

"Welcome Gennin of the Shinobi Villages, to the Chunnin exams hosted by the Rice Country. This will be your first test, consisting of both a written and hearing part." A few of the Gennin groaned, including Hakuro, how she loathed written test. Weren't they supposed to finished with that in the academy?

"Hearing, how do you take a hearing test?" Natusumi questioned, watching out of the corner of her eye as Kinpu shrugged lazily.

"Please take this time to select your two team members that will take the written portion and the one that will take the hearing portion. Once you have decided on who's taking what the hearing exam will take place on the room to your left and the written exam in the room on your right. You'll receive further instruction from there… Hey! You there where the hell do you think you're going!" The Chunnin angrily yelled at the blue haired Gennin that was walking towards the room on the left. the boy didn't even glance back at him. "I haven't dismissed you yet!"

The boy still didn't turn around, Kenpu noticed the women study him with interest. Her eyes widened, as if realizing something and smirked, "Let him go, Yotogi, no matter how he waits his destination will be the same." She said with amusement in her voice, she wouldn't expose the boy's weakness to everyone in the room.

"But Hihi, I doubt he's discussed anything with the members of his team!" Yotogi argued, gripping his clip board in frustration. A girl stepped forward from the crowd, her white eyes looking annoyed at him.

"There is nothing to discuss, Hibiki is taking the hearing, while Itachi and I take the written exam." She shouted at him, hands on her hips. A slightly taller boy stood behind her, looking slightly irritated with that she was drawing attention to them.

"Bold isn't she?" Hihi chuckled, crossing her arms over her large chest. The pale eyed girl flashed her a smile.

"You know it, doll." The girl laughed, not noticing that everyone cringed at the lack of disrespect. Kenpu watched as the blue haired boy slipped into the room on the left, and the other boy, Itachi, glared at the girl's back. Hihi looked at the clock and sighed in mock disappointmet.

"We've got to get started, you have five minutes to decide. Now go!" Hihi and the Chunnin dispersed, leaving the Gennin to their own devices.

Kenpu turned around to face his teammates, "I'll take the hearing test, I think I have a basic idea of what it is, but in case I'm wrong you two would still have a better chance at the written exam, is that ok, Natsumi, Hakuro?"

"Yeah, that's cool with me," Hakuro said quickly grabbing Natsumi's hand and standing up. Kinpu almost snatched her away from the outsider, but restrained himself watching as the two girls walked towards the room on the right. With narrowed mismatched eyes he made a promise.

"Watch your back Natsumi of the Village Hidden of the Whirpool, because once we enter Stage 3 of the exams you become a threat to the power level between your home and mine, The Mist Village, and once you are I will have no need of you."

"Me and Amai should take the written test together, so would could 'Twin Switch'. You take the hearing exams." Urami ordered, standing up from her seat and walking towards the room on the right.

"Twin Switch? I thought you only used that on special occasions?" Raiden yawned, already knowing the set up moments before she had announced it. Raiden was now slightly weary of his two partners, and ran his fingers though snow white hair._ How did I get stuck with the psychopath and her protector? Can I really control them? _He thought quietly.

"_Raiden Kiyomizu! Get in here!" The Third Raikage boomed, his son, A, on his right and his younger student, Dari, on his left. Both watching with mild intrest as Raiden kneeled down in from of the Raikage. It was his first time being in the Raikage's presence since his return from hell. Almost three years ago, he was now ten._

"_Yes, Raikage sama?" Raiden answered automatically. Fear clouded his thoughts as he remembered the many stories that told of the Raikage's impossible power._

"_I have an A rank mission for you, if you succeed I will allow you to reclaim your rightful place in the village. If not you will be expelled from the ninja program and will be taken back under the care of the Anbu." The Raikage's voice was a bit calmer but his power still echoed in his words. A looked at Raiden with a mixture of disgust while Dari looked at him with pity, those were the only emotions anyone had showed him since he was he had returned to the village. _

_How he hated those looks, what had happened was not his fault!_

"_I accept any mission you give me Raikage sama!" He answered a bit despratly, how he longed to live inside of the village walls again instead of alone in the woods. The Raikage nodded, satisfied._

"_You will be taking the Chunnin exams with Urami and Amai Yoshida. You will act as their leader and their cage." The Raikage sighed when he saw the look of confusion on the boys face, procceding to explain more. "You posses two Kekkei Genkai. With those two abilities you should be able to stop them from doing anything that may embarrass me, or cause any problems between the nations. I don't care if you pass or not, just as long as those two girls are kept in line. It is top priority that you are successful so if you don't think you can do it tell me now."_

_The room was silent for a moment._

"_I accept the mission Raikage sama, I will not fail you. And I will bring honor to our village, by winning the Chunnin Exams." Raiden spoke with determination, his eyes flashing and for a moment the Raikage thought he saw lightning bolts in his grey eyes. With a nod he was dismissed._

"No, I must control them, I refuse to be alone any more. I will prove to my village that I am useful to them, and those two will not prevent that!" He said under his breath, fist clenched by his sides.

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><p>"What do you mean you can't find it!" Haruhi said in a quiet voice, watching as Imu searched though her bag.<p>

"Exactly that, it's not in my pack!" Imu snapped, temped to dump the contents out of the bag, but the Chunnin had shouted a warning that they only had two minutes left. Haruhi took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She wasn't going to panic, if it was gone it was gone. Luckly the book had no information on them, so if someone found it they wouldn't have an edge on them. She had also already memorized the contents of the book so it wasn't really needed.

"Alright, Imu you will take the hearing test while I take the written test with Choko." She left no room for discussion, as she walked away. When she and Choko entered the room for the written exam, they were given numbers. Choko was three rows in front of Haruhi, two seats to the left. Haruhi didn't care though, although Choko was dense she was also top of her class she would be ok.

"Excuse me, but that's my seat." A smooth voice drifted into her ears, Haruhi's eyes snapped over to the invader ready to tell him off. Then she saw who it was.

"Itachi Uchiha." She whispered, but he heard her, his brow scrunching together.

"How do you know who I am?" He ordered, eyes blaring at her in a calm yet deadly way. She shuddered feeling the power flowing off of him, how she longed for that power. She inwardly cursed herself for speaking out loud.

"I saw you're name on the list. And this is my seat." She added quickly, pulling her mask back onto her face. He flashed his number card in her face, and sure enough when she turned around it was indeed his seat. Easily fighiting off a blush she scooted over one seat, allowing him to sit down. Itachi slid gracefully into the chair, black eyes instantly scanning over the paper in front of him.

Haruhi watched his discreetly from the corner of her eye as the younger boy listened to the instructions given to them. He was handsome, but she wouldn't let that distract her, no she had something to do. Changing her gaze to her teammate in the front row, she noticed that Choko looked a bit nervous.

"Last rule any one caught cheating will lose two points for every attempt. Begin!" Hihi yelled, the room was filled with pencil hitting paper.

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><p><strong>Ok since i'm going on vacation next week i won't have any internet connection to update at all, so expect one one update this week to make up for it.<strong>

**Fun Fact: Imu has a tatoo of a tattoo of a water serpent around her left arm while Haruhi has a dragon on her right leg.**

**Review Review!**


	6. Fear for a Comrade

Hihi watched the Gennin with orange eyes as they began their test. She smirked as many of the Gennin began to freak out after reading over the test. Her gaze drifted to the only moving pencil in the room. A boy with black hair was the cause, and his raven eyes were concentrated soley on his paper from the placement of the pencil on the page, he was almost done.

Hihi didn't know what to think, there had never been a Gennin that knew even one answer to her test. She had made that test, and taken pride in the fact that unless you had prior knowledge of the questions the test was virtually impossible to pass, but here was a boy who was racing though it as if it was an addition or subtraction test.

Instantly suspecting he had figured out the test and began cheating, she silently signaled to the proctor assigned to his row. The grey haired man only shrugged, indicating that there was no sign of cheating of any kind. Hihi spun around and snatched up the clip board, searching for her target with curious eyes.

Itachi Uchiha.

She had heard that name before, from one of her former students who had a mission in the Leaf Village. This must have been one of the boys her team had a run in with, Shisui being the other, had passed his Chunnin exam last year. With that new knowledge she let all of her suspicions go, this boy was an Uchiha, a born genius, there was a huge chance he was just that smart.

Hihi smirked, her organe eyes flashing with amusment. Some of the Gennin had started cheating, so it was time to kick out the losers. A curved dagger appeared in her hand, she tossed it with deadly accuracy to a blond heared females desk, effectively pinning the sleeve of her shirt to the desk. The girl paled and looked up.

"Number 37," Hihi predatory smiled make the girl flinch, "you fail."

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><p>Natsumi knew the answer to the test. Cheat and don't get caught. Her turquoise eyes shifted around the room and her eyes landed on Hakuro. The blonde was already writing things down answers, and Natsumi closed her eyes raising her fingers to the sword shaped clip holding her bangs away from her face and removed it from her hair. Remembering the requirement for the jutsu, Natsumi brushed the a tiny brush in her pocket, the same one she had borrowed the day before the test, plucking a blond strand in between her fingers she removed it from the brush. A small strand of Natsumi's hair.<p>

A scratching against a clip board and Nasumi cursed, it was her name being written down doubt. Using the surprisingly sharp blade of the hair clip to cut the strand, pretending to bit her thumb nail, she drew blood from the pad of the finger instead spreading it onto the strand of hair. She wrapped it around her finger.

"Mind Mimic Jutsu," She breathed quietly, smirking as the strand of hair began to glow. Haruko flinched, racking her brain for something that she knew wasn't supposed to be there. Was someone cheating off of her? She began to shake, was this Jutsu dangerous, who was in her mind? Turning inwards she shoved the foreign feeling to the back of her mind, hoping to end whatever Jutsu this was.

Hakuro stopped, instantly remembering what Natsumi told her about her only Gen Jutsu. The Mind Mimic Technique allowed the user to know everything the victim was thinking on the surface of their mind. Extremely valuable, but also risky beyond belief, it couldn't be used during battle because it required a piece of hair from the victim and used more than three fourths of her chakra. Happy that it was only her teammate, she quickly read the answers in her head.

Natsumi instantly felt the knowledge flow into her. Her pencil ran across the page, writing down the anwers in a gleeful passion. Releasing the Jutsu she saw Hakuro relax, happy that she was once again alone in her mind.

* * *

><p>"This is the Hearing part of the test. You have been singled out from your teams for a purpose you must figure out on your own." Hihi addressed the fifty Gennin standing in the room. She pointed behind her, one hand on her hip. "You will all enter a separate room, one in each, and once you enter you must find solve a codded message on the wall," The boy from ealier, Hibiki stiffened, "and once you do, you'll tell the hawk nin stationed in your room. You'll have a time limit of fourty five minutes."<p>

The Gennin shuffled over to a random door, some glowing thinking they got the blow off test. Hihi snorted already picking out the ones who wouldn't pass with ease. They didn't even question it, why a hearing exam was supposably centered around writing, idiots.

"Oh, by the way." Hihi acted surprised and turn around, "if you tell the hawk your answer and it's wrong, you and your teammates will fail. Even if they pass the written exam."

The Gennin gasped, and one stepped forward.

"That's so unfair! They get ten chances and we only get one! Everything basically depends on us!" Imu yelled, her blue eyes flashing. Hihi only looked at him with slight interest, then smirked.

"You'll get missions where your teammates will get five chances to break into an enemy base, but you may only get one chance to break into the leader's chambers. The entire mission depends on if you succeed and if the leader ends up dead or not. So if you fail they fail," Then an evil idea popped into her mind. "I had a wonderful idea. If you fail, your teammates die, but you will be free to return to your village."

"What the hell?" Imu yelled, his black trench coat flowing behind him as he stepped forward. "You can't do that, I won't let you do that!" She growled, her fingers snapping together quickly making hand signs. Hihi blured forward, a curved dagger slicing at the girl's arm. Imu jumped back, twisting into a crouch.

"I can, and will. It is well known how many people die at the Chunnin Exams, no one will think anything of it. Now, enter." She didn't give them a chance to protest, one of her helpers made the sign to release the locks on the door.

The Gennin slowly disappeared into the rooms, each with a new fear, but not for themselves, but for their teammates.

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><p>"Ok, let's see." Kenpu drawled glancing around the room for the riddle. It was white, with a wood floor and rather dull. He imagined all the rooms were like this, and continued to look for the riddle. The pressure on his shoulders didn't feel as heavy as he thought. He could care less about Natsumi the outsider, but Hakuro was a member of his village and he could not let her be killed.<p>

"Hello there, Kenpu of the Mist." Powerful burst of wind blew into his eyes making him squint. Looking upwards he saw a black and grey hawk, male, standing on a eye level stick. Walking over cautiously Kenpu bowed slightly to the bird.

"Do you know where the riddle is located." Kenpu was all business , he had to pass this test. He had things to prove, and couldn't do that if he was forced to stay at Gennin level. The bird brushed it's head with it's wing.

"Yes the riddle is: What is something ninjas take with hesitation and fear, but have experienced since they were born one year?" The hawk replied bordly. Kenpu paused for a moment, looked at the bird and blinked.

"Anything else?" Kenpu sighed, running his hand though dirty blonde hair.

"Nope, sorry kid, must be really hard huh? Knowing that if you fail this test you're letting down your entire team. Not just that, they'd die if I did. You've got some guts kid, I'd drop out." The hawk chattered on, glancing at Kenpu.

"We can drop out?" Kenpu breathed hopefully, if he didn't figure it out, it would be nice to know he had a way out.

"Yep, and you're teammates will be let go to. That'd be nice, I mean they might be mad at first but they'd be alive." The bird continued. Kenpu nodded his head and sat down, beginning to meditate. He needed to be calm for this, just as he was taught, think first then act. He could not fail, Hakuro was depending on him whether she knew it or not.

"What is something ninjas take with hesitation and fear,

* * *

><p>"What is something ninjas take with hesitation and fear, but have experienced since they were born one year?" Hibiki repeated quietly, crossing his arms over his chest loosely.<p>

"Yes, but young one, let me make a suggestion. Drop out." The female bird said bluntly, Hibiki let a look of surprise cloud his face, snapping towards her. She sighed, "I don't mean to be rude, but I've given this test to hundreds of Gennin, and I know what it takes to survive this test and the next one."

"So..?"

"You won't live even if you do make it to the next stage. You're at to much of a disadvantage, with you being..well with you being…"The bird struggled to find the right word.

"Blind?" Hibiki snapped, anger filling him. "You think because I'm blind I can't handle what someone with sight can?"

"Well, yes. You can't see anything, you can't read or write. If you're captured you have no way of identifying your location. You can't read a map, I can't understand why they put you in the ninja program anyway. You're just going to get yourself killed, and you're a liability to anyone teamed up with you, a burden.. You may be able to see the chakra in animals, animals, and Jutsu, but you can't see a kunai being thown at you, you can't sense it. You have to much of disadvantage. Just give up now and go home." The bird pleaded, watching as Hibiki's face fell. He closed his sightless eyes and his body shook, not until a moment later did the bird see that he was laughing.

"You're right I can't do any of those things, but when it comes down to it, ninja who can see are at a disadvantage to." He smiled slightly at her, eyes still closed.

"Like what? What could you do that they can't?" The bird only bristled her feathers. Hibiki started listing things off on his fingers.

"Looks lie, but a voice can't, I'm not blinded by the beauty of a person and can hear the ugliness in their hearts. Then when in the middle of a war, I'm not blinded by the sight of my comrades on the ground, I can smell the blood and hear the screams but I'm used to it, it won't hurt me as the sight of their friends death, I won't have nightmares. I won't hesitate to kill an enemy because they're a child, I won't be able to see their innocent eyes. So they can't do some of the things I can." Hibiki conclude, walking towards the wall, placing his back against it.

"But they get though it, they suffer a bit but they can still do the things you can. Think about yourself, your life! You're going to die, you will never make it as a ninja!" the bird screeched.

"I know, I've always know that. It's just that I wanted to take this chance to be different than all the other blind kids in the world" Hibiki shrugged, "I don't want to always be protected, I want to protect to be strong enough to defend those who have taken care of me. You couldn't possibly understand the feeling of helplessness, uselessness. Knowing that your parent's life would be filled with so much less worrying and problems if only you were normal."

"Where are you going?" The bird flapped over to him, and watched as he slid down the wall into a sitting position.

"I, I think I know the answer."

* * *

><p>Urami swung her feet back and forward in her seat, waiting for the signal from her twin. They had waited until the end of the time to start their Jutsu again the first time failing, spending the time scouting out people who may have the correct answers. They had already gotten the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and tenth answer, and hoped to collect the last three in one go.<p>

Amai had found one boy, Itachi, who looked like he knew the answers making him their first target. the moment they released the Jutsu on him, both girls found themselves trapped in a world of spinning red eyes with black tomoes, staring at them angrily. They were stuck in the Jutsu for a good fifteen minutes wasting their time. They only had one more chance to make it work, so this time they settled on a girl with orange hair, a girl from the sand.

_Ready, Amai?_ Urami thought with a smirk, telepathy, one of the many advantages to being a twin.

Yeah, I'm ready. Do you want to start it off or should I? Amai answered tiredly, and Urami frowned slightly. Urami had taken a real hit from Itachi's Jutsu and it seems that he something to her chakra as an act of revenge. Whatever it was, Amai could sense she only had enough chakra for one go.

Sister, if you don't have the chakra, I can give you some of mine. Urami offered, not minding the pain she knew would come with the chakra transfer.

"Numbers 50 and 28 fail!"

_No! I won't let you do that to yourself! I can handle myself, just start the Jutsu. _Amai shouted angrily, making Urami wince. Making a V with index and middle finger of one hand, using her left her took her pointer finger and crossed the middle of the V.

"Twin Style: Body Switch Jutsu." They both chanted, Urami felt her sister's voice beside her. The Body Switch Jutsu when done by twins was very unique. The girls had to be within twenty meters of eachother, and part of their souls were torn from their body and transferred to their twin. While the spirts were traveling they could see anything and remember everything.

"Number 12, fail!" A proctor yelled, disturbing her thoughts.

Urami felt her spirt leave her, making her feel cold and empty. They knew their souls were making their way to their sister, glancing at papers along the way to transfer the information. Within seconds her sister's soul filled her, making her feel not only complete but less lonely. Her sister's soul whispered her new found knowledge into her head, after writing down her answers she released the Jutsu, her own soul returning.

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><p><strong>Ok, I'll have another chapter up and going by tomorrow! So hurry up and Review and all that!<strong>

**Fun Fact: Hihi is only female proctor in the Chunnin Exams but is also the cruelest.**

**Oh by the way if you gave me a character just to let you know, the more you review the more likely they won't die! Don't you just love that? I do! Bye now!**


	7. Screams of the Failures

With a smirk Urami looked at her completed paper, the bell tolled and Hihi returned. "I'm back," She whispered, "Please hand your paper to the Chunnin that come to you, you're test will be graded and given back to you." Hihi ordered, "Your teammates taking the Hearing test have another ten minutes before they're done, so wait here."

Looking around Urami noticed the lack of Gennin, it seemed that only thirty six of the fifty teams were still here, but she felt no sympathy for them.

"Done,"

"Finsihed!" the Chunnin called, shocking the Gennin with their speed. They handed the test over to Hihi, who nodded.

"Alright when I call your names please go to the back room. Taiko Okiana, Shikaki Dioymi," Urima stopped listening and began to watch as many left. Beginning to panick she contacted her sister.

_Amai…._

_Do not worry Urami, those are the failures._

_Didn't we copy off of that guy though?_

_Yeah, but that's just one wrong answer. Do not worry little sister, we passed._

_Yes, you're right sorry._

_Hm._

Urami cut the connection and counted the remaining teams, of the thirty six there were only twenty eight left. She looked around, the girl from the Sand, Haruhi, was still here and so was Itachi.

"Congratulations, you have all passed." Hihi announced smirking, they began cheering and she smirked even bigger. How she loved bursting their bubble, "but we still have to take in the Hearing Exam to see what teams will go to the next stage. Now if your teammember comes though that door, you may stay. If they do not, you will be taken to the room down the hall. Those who's teammembers dropped out of the hearing test have already been removed and kicked out. Please sit together. Now lets being."

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><p>The Gennin filed into the room with releaved looks on their faces. Junki strutted over to Itachi, sitting beside him with her feet on the desk.<p>

"Hey Itachi, do you see Hibiki?" She shouted, smiling when Itachi nodded towards the boy who was slowly approaching them.

"I passed." He told them bluntly, tracing his fingers over the chair, trying to figure out where the actual sitting spot was. He sensed Itachi's hand reaching for him to help guide him to the seat. The bird's words entered Hibiki's mind again_, you're a liability to anyone teamed up with you, a burden._

Shaking his head, he ignored the voice. "It's alright Itachi, I…I have to do this by myself." Hibiki sat on the edge of the chair, scooting back until he was sitting comfortably. Itachi watched him with slight curiosity. In the past two days during their trip, the two boys had become some form of friends, giving each other an unusual amount of trust.

Hibiki because Itachi didn't look down on him, and never held back when they spared. Itachi because Hibiki didn't treat him like a genius or a Uchiha, but instead another boy, and the fact that Sasuke took a liking to him didn't hurt either.

A group of piercing screams came from the back room, shocking everyone, making Junki put her feet down quickly, moving closer to her teammates.

"What's going on in there?" Itachi looked instantly at Hibiki, he felt the boy knew the anwer. Hibiki looked the other way.

"Those are the teammates of anyone who failed the Hearing test, the punishment for failure was the death of your comrades." Hibiki winced when a desperate plea came from a boy to spar his teammate, but was cut off by a watery cry.

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><p>Hakuro blinked back tears and cupped her hands over her ears to cut out the sound. Kenpu was rubbing reassuring circles around her back, muttering that he would have dropped out if he didn't know the answer to the riddle. Swearing that he would have never let that be them. Natsumi watched with a slight annoyance, she knew that Kenpu resented her because she was from the Whirlpool Village, but emphizizng that he wouldn't let anyting happen to Hakuro but possibley allow harm to Natsumi was a bit much. He didn't say it directly but she knew what he was imlying.<p>

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><p>"What was the riddle anyway, Hibiki?" Junki tried to force their attention to something else.<p>

"What is something ninjas take with hesitation and fear, but have experienced since they were born one year?" He answered in a hoarse voice, he felt terrible, his ears were amazing, able to pick out every single sound as if he was in the same room due to his lack of sight. Each sound of the blade swooshing though the air was terrible, and made him feel guilt because that could have been Itachi and Junki in there.

"The Answer?" Junki pressed, for once serious. How she hated the smell of blood, that now crept into the room.

"Alright boys and girls meet the man in charge of your next test, Ikasama!" Hihi yelled, ignoring the sounds and smells coming form the back room. An old man with a humped back and bright red hair, walked in with powerful strides.

"These are them?" He grunted darkly, scanning the children. His head tilted to the side listening to the other room with slight intrest. With a sigh he addressed Hihi, "You're such a sadist, Hihi, was it really needed for them to listen?"

"Nope!" She replied, "Well I'm all done here, good luck to all of you, especially you." Hihi made eye contact with Junki, who flashed her a smile, before Hihi melted into the ground.

Ikasama snorted, "Cocky little brat, I can't believe she took out an entire army." He shook his head, ignoring the looks of wonder the Gennin gave him. That women was really that strong? "Alright, get off you're butts, and follow me."

The Gennin followed out, Hibiki turning to Itachi and whispering in his ear, "His Chakra's an eleven."

"What?" Itachi raised his eye brow at Hibiki forgetting momentarily the boy was blind.

"Chakra is rated on a scale of 1 to 12. Anything over ten being extremely powerful." He said quickly, only loud enough for Itachi and Junki to hear.

"Really, that's freaking awesome! You know I always forget that you're a sensor." Junki's normal personality came back, "What's mine, hm?"

"Five." He said bluntly, chuckling when Junki gasped in mock disappointment.

"A five, only a five? Well, whatever, I'm still the strongest person with ADHD you'll ever meet." She said with pride, placing her hands on her hips.

"We know." The boys answered in union, earning a whack on the head from Junki.

"Shut up, anyways what was the answer to the riddle?" Junki pressed.

"Tell you later." He smirked, he knew how much she hated when people didn't answer her questions.

"Meany short person!" She hissed, lightly elbowing him with a smile. The game was a good way to get their minds off of the earlier events.

"No, I'm a blind short person, good guess though." He snickered when she began to yell at him.

"Stop it both of you." Itachi commanded, pulling Junki on his right and Hibiki was already at his left.

"Yes, Itachi," They said in a childlike voice, laughing at his glare.

They continued until they came to a cave that led underground, Ikasama stopped at the entrance eyes looking at the Gennin with slight disgust. He was sure that not even a third of them would pass, but he knew none of them would drop out so he skipped the lecture.

"This is L.A.T.T, Location and Tracking Traing. This is the fifth most deadly training area in the Land of Rice, tweleth in the world." He made eye contact with everyone, hoping to find someone who might want to leave, but spotted no one. "Inside this cave is an maze like cave. Your objective will be to gather as many of these as you can." Ikasama held up a thumb size silver hawk shaped coin.

"He's holding it up isn't he?" Hibiki grumbled, slightly annoyed that he had no idea what he man was holding.

"Don't worry, darling, I'll describe it in full detail right after I give Itachi a hair cut." Junki snickered, pretending to chop off a bit of Itachi's hair.

"If you do, I'll put you in a Gen Jutsu that will make you think you're a squirrel." He threatened, turning his attention back to the proctor.

"The basic terrain is a maze like underground valley . There are poisonous fish, man eating spiders, and chakra eating bats if there is anything else no one has lived to tell about it." the man grunted in satisfaction as a few of the Gennin gulped loudly. "The test will continue for three days and two nights nonstop, there are no safe zones, this is a free for all. Now, since you've already signed wager forms, please stand in front of your assigned gate, based on the number your squad got when you signed up."

Team Leaf walked to their gate number, twenty one, and stood in front of it with slight unease. This was were the real test begins, this is where almost all of the casualties took place, in the second stage of the exam. Junki glanced at her teammates, the powerful yet socially akward Itachi, and the self sufficient yet niave Hibiki. Her teammates stood proudly in front of the door, ready and willing. She knew they would protect eachother at all cost and her as well. Junki would do the same, simply because they were her comrades, her friends.

"Before we go in here, I have got to set down some rules." Junki stated, effectively mocking Shinku, their sensei. Both boys let small smiles creep into their faces. "Rule one, we are going to find as many of those pirate doubloons and use them to feed the hungry and supply the poorly dressed with fashionable clothing." Itachi snorted at that one since she looked directly at him. "Second, we will not let anyone with blond hair get away without a fight," She declared.

"Why blond?" Hibiki raised one eye brow in question, Junki laughed and ruffled his hair.

"Why because all of my best taunts are blond jokes, silly boy! Third rule, no one is allowed to die except for Ikasama, because he's already got one foot and a cane in the dirt already, so don't hesitate to push him all the way in if given the chance." She smirked at that one, seeing that the man was only two gates away and heard her. Shooting her a dirty look, she winked at him and blew him a kiss.

"Now, then since we've got that down let's get this party started!" She yelled, pumping her fist into the air.

"Why did we get paired with her again?" Hibiki whispered to Itachi, who could only stare at his female teammate.

"The Hokage must have had a lapse of judgment." He sighed when Junki started crying, act as if the comment actually hurt.

"Alright, count down to the beginning of the second stage of the Chunnin Exam beings now!"

60, 59, 58…..

"Oh, Habiki what was the answer to the riddle?" Junki questioned, bending forward in a running position.

41, 40, 39…

"What is something ninjas take with hesitation and fear, but have experienced since they were born one year?" Itachi mumbled, half curious himself.

23, 22, 21, 19, 18

Hibiki smiled to himself, remembering how he had come up with the answer.

10, 9, 8….

"A risk. The answer is a risk."

The buzzer sounded, and they shot forward into the maze, twisting and turning though the rocks of the underground cage.

"Stage two of the Chunnin Exams has begun." Ikasama yelled from outside the gates, watching, knowing that not even half would exit that death trap.

* * *

><p><strong>Hi, again, two in one day! Want to know how that happened, well when I orgionally wrote the last chapter, it included this, way to long. So I just cut it in half. But since I got so many reviews I decided to put this up here early.<strong>

**If you don't understand the riddle its like this: You take a risk being born, because there is the chance you will have terrible parents or some disease. Ninjas take risk with hesitation because they've been taught not to jump into situations without some kind of information about it. They fear taking risk because they don't know what they're getting into. Then you have risk every day, when you go to school you risk getting sick, you risk being an outcast, and you risk disappointing your parents. Everything is a risk, the reason why I did that is because Hihi told them how an entire mission might depend on them and they have to take a risk that they might fail and their teammates will suffer for it. So that's my reasoning behind that.**

**Also if you're confused about the hearing test, it's like this. The entire time they were trying to figure out a riddle, the birds were talking about their worst insecurities and fears, so they had to block out what they heard and focus inward to solve the puzzle.**

**Fun Fact: Ikasama is the oldest ninja still taking missions, being 83 years old. (Madara does not count! He's not taking missions! And no one knows how old Kakazu is!)**

**So hopefully that clears everything up! Now go review while I go stuff myself with sugar and chocolate. Don't judge me, I'm writing the next chapter.**


	8. First Battle: Mist vs Cloud

Kenpu's footsteps echoed against the hard rock floor of the cave. Natsumi and Hakuro followed behind him closely. Looking directly forward, Kenpu took in the beauty of the cave and wondered how something so beautiful could be so dangerous. The cave sealing was a mixture of stone cones and jewels, the only light filtering though the cracks in the ground and passing though the jewels.

It was nothing short of a maze, there were a number of tunnels that would branch off into even more tunnels with every turn. They had yet to see anyone else, but they already had a run in with a man eating spider. Kenpu shuddered at the memory of Natsumi stuck in it's web completely helpless if it wasn't for her Wind Blade she would have been killed.

"Alright so whats the plan? " Natsumi followed Kenpu as he braked and turned down the cave on the left, he had no idea why he was choosing the paths he was, they just felt right.

"Well for one thing, we're not going to bother setting up traps, this place is huge and there will be a small chance anyone will trigger them or that we'll remember how to get back to them, so it's meaningless." Kenpu's foot connected with the water and glided over the surface. Being born in the Mist village, he had learned this technique back in the academy.

"So then what we just run around until we find the enemy?" Natsumi asked, her own footsteps upon the water not as natural as her comrades. Kenpu stopped when they reached the end of the underground river as it began to flow deeper into the earth.

"No, of course not, that would be foolish and stupid. But I should exepect nothing less from an ignorant outsider." Kenpu hissed, pulling a scroll from the inside of his trench coat. His finger brushed against his coin, one had been given to each participant so there were sixty three total.

"Ok, that's enough!" Natsumi snapped, grabbing him by his collar, "I understand that you hate me because I'm not from your village, but you don't have to make it so obvious, I have feelings you know! I've tried to get along with you, our villages made this team for a reason you know, to strengthen the ties of our villages! We have to work together for that to happen!" She stared into his eyes, or attempeted to since they were hidden behind his hair.

"Ties between villages, is that what they told you?" Kenpu smirked darkly as he sat down and began tracing lines on the blank page, with a pencil; how niave could she be. "You're only here because our village took pity on your little town after you got you're butts kicked by the Stone and got all your other Gennin buddies killed. Not only that.."

"Stop it, Kenpu!" Hakuro ordered, forcing an enraged Natsumi to let go of a smirking Kenpu. Hakuro knew how violent this could get and how quickly, Kenpu was a master of getting under peoples skin, that's what made him a prodigy in the art of interrogation. That's also how he passed the hearing test, by torturing the answer out of the bird.

"Fine, we have other things to attend to anyway." Kenpu held Natsumi's gaze for a moment longer before returning to his plan.

Natsumi sucked in a breath, spinning around and chucking three shuriken at the ceiling. Hakuro and Kenpu stood up, dropping into defensive stances, Natsumi standing in front of them her sword diagonal with her body.

Raiden, Urami, and Amai walked towards them, stopping only ten meters away. Raiden's grey eyes flashed over them, slight regret taking over his features. He truly didn't want to attack them, but he had too, he swore that he would come out on top and to do that he needed to collect as many coins as possible and move on.

"You don't want to fight us," Urami and Amai said in union, watching as Hakuro's stance widened. Amai felt her blood tingle at the thought of a fight, taking a step forward. Feeling the blood lust rolling off of her, Raiden raised his arm fingers spread out to block her way.

"Hand over the coins and we will spare you, I cannot promise that I will be able to stop her once we've engaged in battle." Raiden offered, ignoring dirty look Amai gave him and the smirk on Urami's lips. He could stop her, kill her if he wanted, but he wouldn't and it was much more practical to bluff than to reveal his full power.

Hakuro felt her legs begin to shake, the chakra this girl was emitting was dangerous and unpredictable. She didn't know if she could take her, and she couldn't depend on Kenpu or Natsumi for help, since Kenpu would most likely take Raiden since they were both leaders.

"Kenpu," Hakuro whispered, her thoughts getting the best of her.

"Hakuro! You can take them don't worry." He snapped, pushing his fingers into his trench coat. Everyone stood, silence except for the quick rush of the cave lake. Raiden sighed, closing his eyes tightly, his brow furrowing together.

"Are you sure you want to do this, I'll give you one last chance to back down." He pleaded, making eye contact with Hakuro, she didn't seem like she could handle Urami or Amai. No one said anything. "Alright," he sighed again, letting his hand drop.

Urami rushed forward, hands disappearing in her weapon pouch. Natsumi brought up her sword to block them, then slashing the blade down aiming for Urami's now exposed arm. Urami cart wheeled to the side, firing more weapons at her, separating her from her teammates.

Natsumi's sword glistened in the dim light she thrust it's tip towards Urami, switching her grip to defend when Urami jumped back, pink eyes filled with a thick hunger. Flipping her hair out of her eyes, Natsumi ran forward, bringing the sword down with her full strength. Bouncing backwards, Urami flipped over Natsumi's head, grabbing the back of her red hoodie, yanking her off her feet and into the wall twenty meters away.

Urami was good, and she wasn't even using any chakra yet, Natsumi stood with little difficulty, ignoring the slight buzz in her shoulder where she hit the wall. She felt her breathing become harder, but not to the point where she was tired. Urami laughed as she walked forward, daunting Natsumi slightly.

"I wasn't going to show you my true power, but you're strong. Get ready, Natsumi, because you're going to die in a vortex of sound and blood."

* * *

><p>Hakuro ducked and swept her leg under Amai, tripping her momentarily. Using her arms to propel herself upwards, Amai threw another punch at Hakuro only to have it blocked with ease by the Ti Jutsu mistress. They continued fighting in an aggressive passion, Amai getting more and more frustrated as the battle continued.<p>

Every time she tried to execute her Jutsu, Hakuro would use that as a opening for an attack, forcing Amai to stop to block her assault. Glancing behind her, she saw her sister going into one of her moods, and Raiden standing motionless across from Kenpu as they fought with their Gen Jutsu. Sucking in a breath, she quickly flipped her hands together, closing her eyes.

"Voice Style: Root Growl!" The room began to shake, ceiling crumbling as more cracks formed in the ground above them. Roots shot down, twisting and bending in synch with each other. Removing a kunai from her belt holster Hakuro waited, green eyes trained firmly on the girl in front of her. Flahsing her a smile, Amai thew her arms out, throwing her head back and let out a inhuman cry. The roots froze, then weaved towards Hakuro at top speed. Crouching down, Hakuro struggled to keep up with the many vines surrounding her. She felt one wrap around her bare ankle, cutting off her circulation as she was yanked off her feet and thown into the wall, falling to the ground unconscious.

* * *

><p>"One of you teammates has fallen, Kenpu, while both of mine stand strong." Raiden's voice projected from his mind into Kenpu's, they didn't need to talk with their mouths in this world. Kenpu stood across from Raiden in the middle of an ever changing landscape, constantly changing from jungle to dessert to space. They both struggled for control of the Gen Jutsu, neither letting up. In between them Kenpu's animal, a brown otter with a blue bandana around it's head, the Mist symbol flashing was fighting Raiden's animal, a black wolf with white circling it's eyes and muzzle . These were the manifestation of their will, fighting as their masters fought for control of the fake dimension.<p>

The animals roared at each other, biting at each other, drawing blood as they raked their claws down the others body.

The boys suffered the same amount of damage as their animal did. They knew that once the fight was over their bodies would be unhurt but their minds would be in a world of pain. Kenpu almost smiled as Raiden winced.

"You're getting tired aren't you, give up Raiden," Kenpu's voice projected from his mind. Raiden only glared at him, his power momentarily having an advantage, but it dimed and they were back to fighting for control. "You're pathetic you know that right? You're two teammates hate you, and would dispose of you in movements."

Raiden's wolf snapped in pain, as Kenpu's otter sunk it's teeth into it's fur, blood leaking out. The wolf freed itself, backing away from the otter with barred fangs.

"You came here to prove yourself to your village didn't you?" Kenpu continued, watching as Raiden's will faltered and his wolf with it.

"Your taunting has no effect on me, Kenpu, so just shut up and fight me like a shinobi." Raiden's wolf lunged at the otter, knocking it over as it roared angrily in its face. The otter growled back, clawing at the wolf's chest.

The wolf's paw pressed firmly on the otters chest, making it squirm in desperation. Black tail swishing behind it, the wolf raised it's body and slammed itself down into the otter. Both boys were tossed away, the purple sky above them cracking as the lines played connect the dots with the stars. The Gen Jutsu shattered.

Raiden fell to his knees, Kenpu in a similar situation across from him. The mental fight had taken up more chakra than either boy was used to; finally they had found a worthy match.

"You're good, but," Kenpu stood on shaky legs, pulled out a kunai, smirking down at Raiden, "An outsider from the Cloud could never understand the true power of a shinobi raised in the Mist Village."

"Perhaphs, but you could never understand." Raiden's hands dug into the ground, a sad smile on my face, "the pain of being an outcast of the Cloud." When Raiden lifted his head he looked Kenpu dead in the eyes, grey meeting mismatched blue and green.

"You're right, because the Mist will never exclude on of it's children," Kenpu raised his blade and brought it down, stabbing Raiden in the back. "It's over, I win."

Raiden let out a scream, before his body splashed away, creating a puddle at Kenpu's feet. Frozen in shock, Kenpu yelped as Raiden appeared behind him, landing a solid kick in the back of his head.

* * *

><p>Natsumi watched as her blade cut through Urami's hair, small strands falling free from her screeched, in disbelief, running forward with blind anger.<p>

"Voice Style: Screeching Death!" She snarled, letting out a bat like screech. Seeing an opening Natsumi moved to stab Urami in the heart. A flash of black hair and a pale arm grabbed her wrist stopping the blade inches from Urami's chest. Pink eyes met turquoise as Amai stared at Natsumi in anger, jumping into the fight to protect her sister. Unable to stop her Jutsu, rings of sound were released from Urami's mouth, bearing into her enemy and sister. Amai skidded across the floor, crashing into a stalagmite. Natsumi stabbed her blade into the ground, kneeling down she grabbed the hilt tightly, a trickle of blood leaking from her ear.

"Amai!" Urami ran to her sister, forgetting the battle for a moment. Rising slowly from the ground, Amai groaned, clutching the side of her head that was leaking blood. Raiden blurred to her side, parting her hair slightly to inspect the wound. She was obviously disoriented if she was allowing him to touch her. Frowning, he began to form the hand signs of one of his Kekkei Genkai.

"Ice Style: Frozen Palm." He muttered, raising his hand that was now covered in a thick layer of ice. Bringing it to her head, he held his hand there, waiting for the pain to numb.

Kenpu stuggled to his feet, eyes landing on Urami instantly. Fisting his hands, he stuggled to get up. They couldn't win this fight, there team was not equipped to handle them, perhaps if Hakuro was a long range fighter and Natsumi knew some of the Mist Jutsu they could take them easily. Natsumi's wind Jutsu weren't working as well underground, and being in a cave seemed to give the two girls an advantage.

From what he could tell, they used Jutsu that was based on sound, so the echoing of the cave gave them a huge advantage. If they had been in a normal terrain, they would not only have a chance, but they would have the upper hand. Unfortunately the area they were in gave the other team the advantage, so all Kenpu could do now was pull out.

"Natsumi," He yelled, watching as Urami's head snapped in his direction. "Get Hakuro and wait for the signal. We're pulling out!"

"Dang it, Urami stop them! We need the coins!" Raiden ordered her, unable to leave Amai's side. Urami ran towards Raiden, forming the same hand signs as before. Jumping to his feet, Kenpu launched into his own set of hand signs.

"Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!" A second Kenpu popped up from the water, running towards Urami in an attempt to meet her half way. Urami stopped her hand signs, deciding not to waste chakra on a clone, pulling a kunai out of her pouch.

"Water style: Water Prison!" the clone yelled, the water from the steam beside them lashing out and wrapped around Urami in a shere of liquid. Urami glared, hands struggling to make signs in the pressure caused by the water.

Opening her mouth to let out another screech, Urami panicked as water filled her, and she found she was unable to close her mouth. She thrashed as black spots colored her vision, her lungs constricting painfully in her chest, she passed out.

Hakuro's eyes cracked open as Natsumi slipped her arm over Natsumi's shoulders, jumping to Kenpu's side. Kenpu watched as Raiden quickly rose, leaping into the air he flipped, his hand landing on the sphere that held Urami. Transferring his chakra into the water, it turned to ice, cracking and splitting as it fell to the ground, shatting on impact. Propelling off the ball, Raiden twisted, landing on his knees in front of Urami.

Kenpu didn't hesitate, as his close dispersed, destroyed by an unseen shuriken Raiden had thrown while he was in the air, and once again began to form signs

"Hidden Mist Techinque!" He yelled, a thick mist rushing into the cave chamber.

"Amai!" Raiden snapped, irritated that both of his teammates had fallen.

"I'm doing it!" she snapped, voice slightly slurred. "Wind Style: Placid Breeze!" the mist cleared as the wind brushed into the room; Kenpu, Hakruo, and Natsumi were gone.

Running his hands through his hair, Raiden walked over to Urami, picking her up like a child and returning to Amai's side. Snatching her sister from his grasp, Amai cradled Urami's head in her lap.

Raiden was slightly startled by the show of affection, but pulled a pencil from his bag along with the stolen book of information. Flipping through to the pages about the Gennin from the Mist, he penciled in the new information about their abilities. Urami began to awaken, but he ignored her.

He had underestimated Hakuro, she was distinguished in Ti Jutsu, if Amai had not knocked her out so quickly, the outcome of the battle may have been much different. Kenpu was obviously a master of Gen Jutsu, and had the basic abilities of a Mist ninja. Natsumi used her sword as if it was second nature, but the moves she pulled off were beautiful and deadly. He doubted that was the limit of her abilities, and if Amai had not blocked that last attack, Urami would be dead right now.

"Well, that was a disaster." Urami grumbled, fingering the silver coin in her pocket.

"No, it wasn't. We now have information on their abilities. That's what you were after all along isn't it Raiden." Amai raised an eyebrow in his direction, making his smirk slightly.

"Yeah, I knew from the minute I first saw them, they would make it to the final round, so gathering information now was the best course of action. Of course, we still need more coins. Amai, if you can, can you locate another team?" He asked, replacing the book in his bag.

"Don't have to," She said, standing up and facing the northern entrance to the cave. Raiden and Urami followed her lead, and it was hard to tell they had just been in battle, if not for the cuts and blood, they could have just finished a light training session by their calm positions.

A team of stone ninja ran into the room, stopping when they saw them. Raiden sighed, it was once again time to put on their little act, this team was disposable, they would not make it to the last round, he was sure of it.

"You don't want to fight us," Urami and Amai said in union, the feeling of déjà vu was uncanny. Repeating his earlier motion he put his hand out, fingers spread when Amai took a step forward, blood lust in her eyes. The Stone ninja looked back in fear.

"Hand over the coins and we will spare you, I cannot promise that I will be able to stop her once we've engaged in battle." He repeated the line from earlier, already bored with the charade. The stone ninja rushed them, and he sighed. "They're not worth our time," he said, moving is hand so now it was directly in front of his, palm out and fingers spread.

"Ice Style: Glacier Pen" He said, snow and ice flying from his hand and the three stone ninja were trapped in a block of ice. They would die of Hypotherima within seconds, an easy win, a painless but slow death.

"Amai, Urami, retrieve the coins, we've got work to do." His grey eyes flashed, it was time to get serious.

* * *

><p><strong>Hi! No, I didn't give up on this story, and no I didn't have writers block. I was on vacation with no internet! Well they did offer internet but it was like a dollar a minute. Anyway, this is the first peak at what the Gennin can do, and since Raiden wasn't in the last few chapters, he get's a huge battle scene. Next chapter will be out later in the week! I've already started planning for the sequal. Also please give me ideas for couples, so I can have a poll about who will end up with who in the sequal! <strong>

**Fun Fact: Raiden has two Kekkei Genkai, one being Ice Style like Haku, but he rarely uses his second one because he's ashamed of it.**

**Remember, Review equeals more character screen time and quicker updates. And you're character not dying is also a bonus.**


	9. Back to Back Battles for the Leaf

The low ceiling and lack of light in the cave gave Team Leaf a huge advantage. They didn't need light to see, unlike their enemy.

"Gentel Fist!" Junki danced around her enemy, thrusting her pointer finger, thumb, and middle finger into his back and shoulder. The boy swatted at her, yanking on the chain attached to a spiked metal ball. Pulling it up, he whipped the chain at her, the ball flying in her direction as well. Junki smirked, the veins around her eyes popping as she fell to the ground in a front split, her body bend forward as the ball zoomed over her head, crashing into a pillar behind her, rocks spewing across the area.

"Explode!" The boy yelled, red eyes flashing in the light of the bomb. A large cloud of black smoke covered Junki, making it impossible to see the damage. The boy with the spiked ball skidded back, smirking as the cave ceiling began to fall above them.

Itachi kneed a clone in the gut, unfazed as it fizzled away and more of the white haired girl's clones charged him once more. She had a large amount of stamina, at the being they only fought with Gen Jutsu, but when it became obvious she was no match for him, she switched to using clones and earth style moves. He slid out of the way as part of the ceiling above him gave way, a large bolder crushing some of the unlucky clones

Two figures rebounded against the high ledges in the cave, separating finally when a large crack turned the once sturdy ceiling to rubble. Flipping onto a more stable part of the ceiling, Hibiki crouched as he hung upside down from a stalactite; he quickly threaded a paper bomb onto a kunai using his teeth, temporarily pausing. Narrowing his eyes, he felt Itachi's chakra waver, he was concerned about something

"She's alright, Itachi, her chakra's still…." He was cut short as the third member of the team, a male with a small amount of chakra but a large amount of weapons threw three shuriken at him. Falling to the ground, Hibiki rolled away from the silver hammer like sword that was brought down in an attempt to crack open his skull. The boy's long green hair whipped around him as he continued to swing the weapon at Hibiki, who bounded out of his reach each time, but just barely.

"8 triagrams, 32 palms!" Junki blurred out of the smoke, assaulting the boy with consecutive chakra filled hits. His body jerked and withered yet he managed to stay standing though out the entire attack until the last hit, when his body went flying, knocking into the girl as she blocked another one of Itachi's kicks. They tumbled into the wall, dust rising around them, as they both moaning in pain.

"Stay still." Hibiki whispered into his opponent's ear. While the boy had been distracted by his teammates defeat, Hibiki had appeared behind him, and was now holding two poisonous senbon to the back of the boy's spine, a vital spot when hit correctly. The boy shook in fear and anger; this was not supposed to happen.

His team had trailed them for seven hours, watching as the Leaf ninja fought and demolished two other teams. They had categorized their Jutsu, planned on who would face who, waited until they arrived at the perfect area before attacking, but all in vein. The blind boy holding a senbon to his back, was supposed to be taken captive, used as random. They didn't see him fight before, he would mostly stay on the ceiling, shouting out chakra levels and every now and then he would give the location of the enemy if they disappeared. The Hyuuga and the Uchiha protected him fiercely, guarding him whenever the enemy got to close. Now though, he wondered if they were guarding him because he wasn't strong enough, or if he was just a hoax to make them cocky.

"You knew that we were tailing you, huh? Impressive, how'd you know, the Hyuuga's Byuakugan wasn't activated at all. Don't tell me he's a Hyuuga too." The boy dared to glance back at Hibiki, maybe there was a chance his teammate, Aki, was mistaken? The boy scowled at Itachi as Junki picked through his fallen comrades pockets, smiling at him when she returned with two silver coins.

"He wishes," Junki snorts, flipping one of the coins with her thumb, "Sorry darling Hibiki here is a sensor."

"But he's blind!" The boy spat, freezing when the tip of the needle was pressed a bit harder to his back. Itachi reached over and snatched the coin from the boy's bag, handing it to Junki who placed them all in her pant pocket.

"Careful there, he doesn't like people talking about it as if it was a sin or something. If I were you I'd apologize." Junki teased, grinning when Hibiki raised an eyebrow.

"Hibiki check if there is anyone else hiding around." Itachi said, retying his hair back. The exam was almost over, but collecting a few last minute coins wouldn't hurt. Nodding in understanding Hibiki closed his sightless eyes, using his chakra to 'see' if there was anyone else nearby. He winced feeling a heavy chakra slaming into another, a Gen Jutsu fight.

"Itachi, there's another team in a cave close to ours." Hibiki mumbled, placing a finger to his temple. The chakra was sharp and even as Hibiki retracted his own chakra, the sharp pains still assaulted him. Clutching his head, he leaned forward, the pain was becoming more frequent and merciless. Snatching his chakra back, Hibiki completely cut off his sensing abilities. The pain kept coming, and he realized that it was him that it was being targeted. "We're being attacked!"

"Earth Style: Pyramid Prision!" Three walls of thick rock emerged from the ground, slamming together around Hibiki. Junki shoved the aggravated boy away from her, ignoring as her crawled pathetically to his beaten teammates, and activated her Byakugan. Her palm connected to the middle of the closest wall. It crumbled, bits of dirt and gravel flying in her face, Junki smirked, satisfied with her accuracy. Hibiki stepped out of the ruined structure calmly, three thick senbon in between his fingers, resting on the back of his knuckles.

"They won't even give us a small break huh?" Junki's smirk turned into a grin, "But we are amazing, who wouldn't want to fight us. Not including you, Hibiki, you're useless." She ignored his sharp insults, instead watching as Itachi flung three shuriken at the cave ceiling. They curved around a stalagmite gracefully, speeding towards the sound of the voice. Rather, where Itachi thought the voice came from. There were too many echos for him to be sure.

A black mass surged towards them, blond hair flying around behind it. Five kunai were hurled back at Itachi, forcing him to jump sideways. The mass followed him, continuing its assaults with a fierce passion. A spark ignited as they all clashed against the wall, spinning as they fell to the ground. Itachi grabbed his own weapons, waltzing with his opponent as they threw the metal blades at one another, sparks showering the ground in the dance of intended death.

The ground cracked in between Junki and Hibiki, forcing them to separate. "Move!" Hibiki shouted at Junki, twisting his body into the air and away from the hand that shot out of the ground under them. He fired two of the senbon, sliding back a bit as he landed on the ground. Black smoke rushed out of the transparent balls eagerly, creating a cloud of blackness around the enemy.

Junki stood by and watched as Hibiki entered the darkness. As long as they fought in the smoke he had the advantage, he didn't need to see in order to fight, but she was willing to bet that his target did.

"Behind you!" A voice hissed into her ear. Junki pulled up her foot, balancing as she turned and hurled her shin into the intruders stomach. The boy bounced and slid, dust rising into the air with each landing, until he slammed into the wall. Standing up he dusted himself off, chuckling slightly, thick pink hair tied in a high ponytail.

"You are indeed a Hyuuga." he drawled, yanking his machete out of it's holder. Junki snorted, her foot sliding forward as she dropped into a defensive position.

"And you are indeed very in touch with your femine side. Tell me, is that perfume Yellow Wood #31 or Yellow Wood #302?" She mocked, flashing him her famous smile. The boy frowned, touching his hair self consciously.

"It's not perfume! It's cologne, you stupid white eyed pixie!" He snapped, adjusting his grip so the handle of the machete was poised to be thrown.

"If that makes you feel maniler, Mr. Princess!" She laughed, ducking as the machete was whirled at her head. It landed on the ground with a grunt, sliding a bit further before stopping.

"How dare you! I'll kill you…" a body slammed into him, tangling themselves together as them hit the wall and fell in a heap. Junki blinked, deactivating her Byakugan and looking up at Itachi who was staring into the black cloud with interest, red eyes glowing softly. Smirking, Junki guessed it was his way at getting even for ending his fight for him earlier.

"Thanks handsome!" She winked at him, her hands on her hips as she walked over to him. Itachi only grunted, watching as Hibiki dragged his opponent out by his hair, ten thick sendon protruding from the boy's stomach , arms, legs, and chest. Dropping him to the ground, Junki winced as Hibiki removed the needles with little care, blood flowing endlessly from the mediem sized holes.

"He didn't have any coins." Hibiki explained, as if that would excuse his merciless tactics. Itachi looked at the body a bit longer, Junki kneeled by his side, reactivated her Byakugan she scanned his body.

"There's nothing we can do for him, the poisons spread to quickly, and he's lost to much blood." Hibiki sighed, standing up and bowing her head in respect.

"We should go," Itachi stated, turning to face Hibiki, who nodded, dark strands falling free from the pony tail and covering his face.

They lept forward, rushing towards the nearst exit, Hibiki leading them. Junki looked down, Hibiki had been getting a bit more violent and ruthless, especially when his blindness was mentioned. Her mind traveled back to the boy with holes in his body, something was wrong with that, Hibiki's poisons were potent, it only took one near a vital organ to make a quick kill. The boy must have said something about Hibiki's blindness that made him go beezerk and torture the guy, and the noise and concentration dedicated to their own fights Itachi and Junki would be completely clueless about it. She wouldn't have put it past him, he had several poisons for several different perposes: killing, sleeping, loss of nerve control, and extreme pain.

Glancing over at Itachi, their eyes met. He was thinking something similar for sure, they would have to keep an eye on Hibiki. Not because they didn't trust him, he wouldn't attack them, they were one hundered percent positive about that, but anyone else would be an easy target for him to assassinate. Yes, they would have to keep an eye on Hibiki.

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><p><strong>IMPORTANT READ THIS NOW!: There is a poll on my profile for character pairings, they're not for this part, but for the sequal and the epiloge so go vote now please!<strong>

**YOU CAN STOP READING NOW IF YOU WANT BUT I WOULD BE HAPPY IF YOU CONTINUED!:**

**Sorry for the delay, I just couldn't be satisified with this chapter. I swear I wrote it and rewrote it about three times, and I still hate it! But I'm going to write the next chapter now because I know how that one's going to turn out! And Team Sand will make an appearance soon, I just had to give everyone equal screen time and team sand had an entire chapter to themselves earilier so I had to make up for that. **

**Fun Fact: Hime means princess, so when Junki called the boy Mr. Hime she was refuring to the fact that he looked like a chick. The team they were fighting was from the Stone Village.**

**So review and vote please! I don't feel like threatening your characters right now, you already know what happens to them if you don't review, right? Right, I'm glad we understand eachother, bye bye now!**


	10. Final Battle of Stage 2

"Summoning Jutsu!" Imu slammed her bloodied palm onto the ground, white fog bursting from the spot, spreading out around her like a storm cloud. Rearing it's head up, the giant cotton mouth snake glared at Imu with sickly yellow eyes. The dark scales on it's back blended perfectly with the cave backdrop, making the snake seem like a faded picture on the wall.

Her opponent stood on the head of his own summon, a large white horse with silver armor. The horse galloped forward, using it's hooves in an attempt of trample over the snake. Twisting it's body, Imu's snake coiled it's body around the horse's back legs, making it fall to the ground.

"Rappu, keep the horse in line!" Imu shouted, rushing up the side of the horse's belly, ducking to the side as the boy aimed three shuriken at her body. Bringing his knee up, he tried to kick Imu in the chest. Grabbing his leg with both arms, she yanked him off his feet, slamming him back down onto the horse.

The snake sunk it's fangs deep into the horse's hip, releasing it's toxic saliva into the horses blood stream. Using his hands to propel his forwards, the boy used his momentum to land a chakra filled punch in Imu's face. Her body skid back, bouncing until her body fell off the horse, seventy meters from the ground.

"Hidden Snake arms!" She yelped, feeling the smooth wetness of the small green snakes' scales as they appeared from her sleeves, flying forwards until they hooked their fangs onto the horse's skin. Reeling herself upwards, Imu ducked again as the boy swung a kunai at her neck, purple eyes filled with purpose. Pulling out her own kunai she engaged him, a blur of purple and blue hair.

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><p>"Wind Style: Spiraling Cresent!" Choko threw her tan boomerang at the two girls across from her, watching as it turned into a blur of tan and orange. The two girls jumped to the side, the boomerange curving back towards Choko, but the wind carrying the weapon slammed into wall behind them, making the wall spilt and crack in a spider web like pattern.<p>

Crisscrossing back and forth, the two girls charged her flipping away as the boomerang zoomed passed them. Choko snatched the weapon out of midair, taking comfort in the familiar sting.

"Choko-san, stand back, we're going with Combination 23." Haruhi's hands blured together as she completed her hand signs. With a nod Choko waved her boomerang over her head, disappearing in a gust of wind. Chakra buzzed painfully through her arms, so familiar, so unstable. Haruhi's eyes closed as the dragon tattoo on her leg opened it's own eyes, there black eyes turning a dark purple. It's lips seemed to curve upwards in an omniscience smirk.

The two girls continued to charge, closing the distance slowly as the wounds from their battle with Choko limited their normal endurance. Haruhi had seen their combination before, they would run towards her, crossing back and forth constantly until one would fire a wind attack and the other would follow up by blowing fire into the wind, doubling it's power. Choko had been able to stop the wind attacks with ease, making the other girl hold off on her fire attack.

A spiraling heat collected in Haruhi's chest, sparking and sizzling, looking for a way to get out.

"Dragon style: Violet Breath!" Purple flames tore out of her mouth angrily, warping and twisting in circular patterns as it streamed towards the twins. Both girls jumped upwards, escaping the purple smoke cloud, clinging to the ceiling by their feet. The fire blasted into the wall behind them ruthlessly, melting the stone in seconds. Lava dripped from the cave wall, burning the ground as it collected in a large puddle.

"Wind Style: Debris Tornado!" Choko flung her boomerange downwards, watching as it curved neatly upwards, slowly gaining speed. The boomerange arched over the lava, picking it up in it's current, lifting it upwards into a vortex of purple liquid and dust. Haruhi jumped upwards towards the twins, hands blurring into hand signs again.

"Dragon Style: Crimson tail," She mumbled, feeling her body become light and agile, bones becoming flexible. Her feet landed on the ceiling, lighter and quicker than before. The dragon tattoo now sported red eyes, matching it's scales eerily.

"Earth Style…wha-….what is this?" The smallest girl began to sway on her feet, grabbing her stomach in a desperate attempt to ease some of the pain. She dropped down, straight into the fiery tornado. A petrifying scream echoed across the cave walls as the girl realized she was trapped in the vortex.

Choko giggled, concentrating on maintaining the tornado until Haruhi could finish the other girl off. The attack earlier wasn't meant to hit the girls at all, but to distract them. When the girls had jumped out of the clouds way they had inhaled some of the smoke, a poisons knock out gas mixed in with the fire, giving it it's unique violet color. Choko's tornado was then used to create a sort of prison to trap them in once Imu had worn them out, but since Imu was busy Haruhi would have to fill that spot.

The tornado would force them to breath in the smoke while trapping them in a circular fire that was tripled in fire by the power of the wind, a death trap of sorts. Although she worried about Haruhi, Crimson Tail was used to make Haruhi quicker and more flexible, the only drawback was it made her sore afterwards, and much slower. That's why Imu normally tired out the enemy, she was naturally fast and bendable.

The second girl fell into the vortex with a thud next to her already unconscious partner. Haruhi leaped down, kneeling beside Choko with both hands on the ground.

"You can end the Jutsu now, Choko, they're no longer able to fight. The poisons worked itself too far into their systems." Haruhi panted, standing up on shaky legs.

"Sure thing, Haruhi! By the way, should we go help Imu after this?" Choko questioned as she lowered her hands. The tornado vanished instantly, the fire extinguishing itself. The boomerang spun lazily back towards Choko, attracted to her chakra as if it were a living thing.

"As if I would want or need help from you two." Imu hissed, releasing her summon and dragging the motionless boy near them. "Mine only had two coins, yours?"

"Together they only had three inbetween them, then." Haruhi mumbled, taking the lone coin from Imu.

Smoke exploded near them, blinding them in it's thick concentration. "Stop! Drop you're weapons, or be disqualified!" The voice snarled, coughing a bit.

"And just who are you?" Imu snapped, doing the exact oppiste and pulling out a kunai. Choko held her boomerang up, poised to throw, and Haruhi dropped into a defensive Tai Jutsu stance in front of them, blue eyes scanning the smoke for the host of the voice.

An older man stepped out of the smoke, waving a hand in front of his face in annoyance. He was far to old to be a Gennin, and it obviously wasn't a Gen Jutsu. All the girls relaxed slightly, lowering their weapons to the side, but no discarding them. The man sighed, taking not of their alert posture.

"Congratulations, you have managed to survive to the end of the Second Stage of the Chunnin Exams. Blah, blah blah, you're team has made the top four teams, so lucky you, you'll be competing in the third and final stage one month from now, blah blah blah, I will now escort you to the surface, ready?" The man yawned, hands already forming signs.

Haruhi opened her mouth to speak when she felt herself being misplaced and surrounded by smoke. The sun blared down on them, filling their deprived eyes with an uncomfortable amount of light. The man streatched upwards, scratching his neck, glancing at the girls he tossed them a scoll carelessly.

"That is a list of the top teams and the numbers of coins they collected, tomorrow you are to report back to the orgional test taking building for further instructions. Goodbye now." He poofed away, leaving the three girls blinking stupidly at the scroll.

"Well that was unexpected, I thought we had a few more hours in there. And how did they know how many coins we collected, were they keeping tabs on us? Hey, Imu where do you think that other team got teleported to, because they were way to injured to be left alone like we were, maybe he took them to a hospital, hey look the one of the Leaf teams made it. Do you think it was the one with that handsome Uchiha guy? I hope so because…Hmph?" Choko's rapid rambling was stopped when Haruhi covered her mouth with one hand, placing the other firmly on the top of her head.

Haruhi spoke in a steady, low voice her red hair hanging over her shoulders like a cape, "One, the coins had chakra in them they were tracking us. Two, yes they were taken to the hospital, they wouldn't let them die if there was a slight chance at saving them. Yes I do think it was Itachi's team, and finally Choko you really should have brought your medication with you." Removing her hands, Haruhi sighed slightly when Choko pouted at her.

"So one team from leaf, one team from cloud, one team from mist, and us. Looks like one team from all of the major villages made it, except for stone, but their Gennin were extremely week this time around." Imu noted, the sun warming her skin deliciously, although it wasn't as familiar as the scorching sun of the sand village, it was enough to bring a bit of color back into her skin.

"We should return to the hotel now, we haven't had proper rest in past couple of days." Haruhi stated, resisting the urge to lay down and bath in the rays of the sun. How she had missed the warmth it provided, she would never complain about the hotness of the desert again. Being down in the dank, dark, humid atmosphere of the cave had made her decide that she would never live underground.

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><p>The twelve gennin stood in front of their Kages and multiple others, backs straight, trying their best to at least look like they weren't sleep deprived. The host Kage began relaying the history and significance of the Chunnin exam, how it was a replacement for war, and how proud their countries were of them. When released they were instructed to return to their village, and in one months time, return to the Rice Country for the final exam, an one on one battle.<p>

The gennin's eyes traveled over one another, sizing each other up, memorizing faces of potential rivals.

"Now this generator will show you the matches for the first round." The screen buzzed to life, green letters smashing together until the names were ready.

"Match one: Itachi Uchiha vs Natsumi Uzumaki," the proctor read, penciling something down on his clip board. Natsumi felt eyes on her, but refused to return the gaze. She would not be intimidated before she even knew what he was capable of. Itachi glanced at the girl for a bit, her pony tailed hair slightly obscuring his view of her features.

"Match two: Haruhi Kinimoto vs Urami Yoshida," Again the proctor began to write, Haruhi's mind automatically repeated everything she remembered from the book about the twin, which although it wasn't much, she knew that the Yoshida were a very powerful clan in the Cloud Village, research on them couldn't be that hard. Urami frowned, of course she would get one of the only three people not in the book. This was the definition of karma, she helped steal the book, yet it was totally useless.

"Match three: Raiden Kiyomizu vs Choko Nazasuki," The proctor erased a few lines this time. Raiden silently cursed his luck, while he had been feeling sorry for Urami it seems that he too was getting a good kick from karma as well, maybe stealing that book from them hadn't been such a wonderful plan after all. Choko giggled and began bouncing up and down, two hands grabbed her wrist forcing her to stop. Imu had her right in a tight snake like hold while Haruhi's was gentle but firm.

"Match Four: Imu Watakuhi vs Junki Hyuuga." Imu smirked, finding information about the Hyuuga techniques would be beyond easy. Junki grinned, the girl might not have been blond but she did have some purple haired jokes up her sleeve as well.

"Match five: Hakuro Arashi vs Amai Yoshida." Amai closed her eyes and silently thanked her luck that her target was in the book, and not only that but they had fought before. It was unfortunate that neither her sister's or Raiden's enemies were in there, but it wouldn't matter. Urami would win her match easily, and although she didn't fully like Raiden she had come to respect him, and knew that he would be more than a match for that Choko girl. Hakuro gulped, remembering the frightening Jutsu Amai had released on her before, but stopped herself. Their would be no echo's this time, no endless amount of dirt, and Hakuro's abilities were far more suited for outdoors than underground.

"Match six: Kenpu vs Hibiki Dozuko." The proctor announced the final match, bowing to the Kages he dismissed everyone with a nod in the Gennin's direction. Kenpu smirked, how lucky was he, to have to fight a blind kid? This was going to be easy. Following Itachi outside Hibiki kept quiet, his mind not on the match but of new poisons he could make, much slower acting poisons.

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><p><strong>Everyone with a character in this story!<strong>

**If you have a character please message me one Jutsu you made up just for them. Everyone except xxYou-Shall-Be-My-Squishyxx because we talked about this when you first sent me my character.**

**Well that's all for now folks, and this chapter was kind of rushed because I sort of lost my way at the end of Haruhi and Choko's battle. Oh well, are you guys excited for the battles? I am, because there will be a total of 11 battles! Whoa Hoo! **

**Fun Fact: Haruhi's dragon tatto's eye will change color depending on what Dragon Style teqhnique she uses. No, she can not summon dragons or transform into them, but she worships the dragon and models her Jutsu after them. This is a unique ability only she can do. **

**So what battle do you guys want to see the most, and who do you think will win each battle? Just out of curiosity. Bye now! Review and other stuff, and here are the results for the Pairing contest. And yes, Dewdrop your vote is inclued, Since i don't want you guys to know 100% whose going to end up with who, i'm going to post the top two :) **

**ItachixHaruhi**

**ItachixJunki**

**KenpuxNatsumi**

**KenpuxHakuro**

**RaidenxHakuro**

**RaidenxAmai**

**HibikixJunki**

**HibikixChoko**

**I have to admit some of the pairings shocked me. Well see you guys later!**


	11. The heir of the Yoshida Clan

**If You have a character in this story, please send me the message about your characters special Jutsu, if you don't know what I'm talking about please read the authors note in the last chapter at the bottem of the chapter!**

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><p>"Come on Urami, let's try it one more time!" Amai encouraged her sister, bitting her swollen red lip. They had come out to the training grounds early this moring, focusing mainly on Tai Jutsu. They weren't allowed to practice Nin Jutsu unless Raiden or a Jonnin was there to supervise. The sun rested high in the east, slowly raising past the mountains.<p>

Urami struggled to stand up, shallow cuts decorating her pale skin with red lines, and bits of rock tangled in her hair. Amai sighed, walking over to her sister and assisted her, feeling Urami lean towards her slightly.

"We need to rest, sister. There is no point in exhausting ourselves before Raiden gets here. And I'm really tired; you're really hard to keep up with!" Urami whined, pretending to faint in Amai's arms, throwing a hand over her forehead dramatically. Snorting, Amai dropped her sister, a smile tugging at her lip as Urami fell, butt first onto the ground. The tan rocks of the mountains were hot and dry, dust rising at every small pressure applied. Lizards crawled far away from them, ignoring that obvious cause of their runaway meals were laughing girls.

"Alright, we can rest, but as soon as he shows up, we're going right back at it." Amai gave in; lying on her back and closing her eyes, letting the warmth of the morning sun heat her skin. Urami sat up, leaning back on her hands and smiled. This is how she loves to see her sister, so relaxed and happy, and the fact that she was only like that around Urami made her feel special.

The lizards scattered into cracks in the rocks, squeezing their bodies deeper to hide from a predator that did not want it's prey. Raiden materialized ten feet away from his teammates, grinning at their relaxed positions.

"You are late, Raiden." Amai flipped to her feet, making Urami frown at the change in her tone. They were back to the emotionless Amai, huh, too bad, Urami wanted to play with Secrete Amai just a bit longer.

"I know, but I had to stop by the Raikage's office." Raiden shrugged off a shoulder bag, metal brushing against each other as the bag hit the ground. Hopping up onto a large stone he crossed his legs under him, meditating with his eyes closed. Urami opened her mouth and closed it, sighing loudly before standing up to spar her sister again, only this time Jutsu was allowed.

_I have to practice both of my Kekkei Genki today, no matter how I feel about it, the curse Orochimaru infected me with may one day save my life, or possibly even the village. I can't be unprepared, so this will be the first step of my training._ Raiden thought, harsh wind slapping his body as Urami shot one of her Jutsu at Amai; he had to use chakra to stay in place.

"Alright, alright you win!" Urami laughed, waving her hands in front of her good naturedly. Amai frowned, frustrated by her sisters childishness, but at the same time comforted by it. "Raiden, you'll be sparing Amai this time."

"No," he stated bluntly, using his knee to push himself off, "I'll be fighting both of you. Don't hold back either."

"What? You're insane, you can't take us both on at…" Urami stopped when she felt the small pressure from her sister's hand as it rested on her shoulder. Amai gazed at Raiden silently, pink eyes gently reflecting the sun's light.

"He wants to practice his other Kekkei Genki," Amai didn't have to elaborate, Urami instantly nodding and stepping back a bit, kunai drawn. Raiden silently thanked them with a dip of his head, crossing his arms over his chest fingers spread out wide.

"Dance of the Camellia."

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><p>"Junki, stop hesitating, you're not helping anyone by holding back!" Shinku barked, red eyes scrutinizing his students from under the protective shade of an old tree. Hibiki sat by his side, eyebrows furrowed together as his finger made the Ram sign as he scouted out the chakra sources of passing strangers, categorizing them as civiallian or shinobi, including their possible level.<p>

Itachi swung his leg down quickly, catching Junki in the arm. She jumped back, sweat glistening on her face and neck as she charged forward again, instantly performing 64 trigrams effortlessly. Sharingan spinning, Itachi stepped back with each attempt she made at hitting him. The attack ended, Itachi took the opportunity, flipping over Junki's head, grabbing the back of her shirt and throwing her across the field. Grass was torn from the ground in large chunks, leaving behind a brown path when she had landed, rubbing her arm.

"That's enough! Hibiki," Shinku yelled, standing up waiting for Hibiki to tilt his head in his direction to confirm he was listening, "You'll be sparing me now."

"Thank you, oh wonderful Shinku, master of the Illusionary arts! How merciful you are, only making us practice for thee hours straight before giving us a break, you are so noble, so very caring!" Junki threw herself at Shinku's feet, going on like a grateful mother addressing the man who had saved her children from bandits. Shinku grunted, stepping into the sun, Hibiki's footsteps crunching the grass nosily. Itachi passed him silently, sitting next to Junki.

Shinku stopped near the middle of the field, facing Hibiki with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Alright, it's safe to assume that at one point you will come into contact with a Gen Jutsu user, something you haven't had any prior experience to. Due to you blindness," Hibiki chuckled humorlessly at his teacher, that was one of the few things he liked about Shinku, his bluntness. "it will be harder for you to detect a Gen Jutsu that has been placed on you, your sensory abilities are always monitoring the outside world acting as your eyes, so you've never felt the need to monitor your own chakra. You're chakra control and sensing is unsurpassed, in fact if you were able to see, you'd be considered a geniues at Gen Jutsu or Medical ninjutsu."

"If I was able to see," Hibiki whispered, fist clenching at his sides. Noticing the change in his body language, Itachi motioned to Junki, studying Hibiki, confusion and concern laced in his black eyes.

"Now I'm going to relay a set of hand signs to you, this is called the Reflection Gen Jutsu, self explanatory. This will allow you to take a Gen Jutsu and throw it back at it's caster without knowing if you're one hundred percent in the Gen Jutsu. Now are you ready?" Shinku frowned when Hibiki didn't answer, "I asked you a question!"

"Yes," Hibiki answered quietly, "I'm ready."

"Good, now get ready," Shinku smirked slightly when he felt Hibiki's chakra concentrate in his hands and mind, searching for something it knew wasn't there, familiarizing itself with how it was supposed to feel when not invaded by another chakra. "Ox, Serpent, Dog, Tiger! You got that?"

"Yeah, I'm ready to try it out." Hibiki slid his feet farther apart, loving the feel of the prickly grass and damp ground under his bare feet.

"Alright, we'll spar a bit and in the middle of the battle I'll cast the Gen Jutsu. I'll start out with a basic Gen Jutsu, but that would have a major effect on you personally." Shinku fired himself at Hibiki, kicking the boy back into a tree on the other side of the clearing.

Groaning, Hibiki stood up and began scaling up the trunk of the tree as twelve kunai buried themselves in the loose bark. Flipping to the side, Hibiki fired three senbon at his teacher. Shinku jumped to the side, the senbon burying themselves in the ground, a huge cloud of black smoke rushing out of the orbs on the end. Covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve, Shinku disappeared in the haze, Hibiki jumping in soon after.

Itachi was on his feet instantly, eyes spinning into a dark red color, black commas scanning the smoke. "Junki," he saw her stand, Byakugan activated, out of the corner of his eyes. This was the same scenario of what happened in the cave, Hibiki trapping his prey in the smoke before torturing them. "And Shinku-sensei doesn't exactly acknowledge that Hibiki's sensitive about his blindness."

"Yeah, but Shinku isn't a push over." Junki relaxed a bit, comforted by her own words enough to deactivate her Byakugan. She sighed as Itachi refused to be comforted, his body tense and eyes filled with an emotion she didn't feel like describing.

"Stop the Jutsu now, Hibiki," Shinku's calm voice projected over the field, forcing Itachi to admit that that Junki was right and sit.

"See," Junki chuckled, "He just casted the Jutsu, and Hibiki probably managed to do it on the first try."

"What the devil? I told you to stop Hibiki!" Both teens tensed as Shinku's voice became angry, the smoke parting as a body launched from the smoke, bouncing across the ground, rocks and grass exploding under him. Hibiki landed head first into a tree, creating a crater in the stump.

Shinku stalked towards him, exiting the smoke easily. Junki yelped, drawing Shinku's attention, "You two go home, now!" he growled, reaching Hibiki finally, roughly grabbing him by the arm and hulling him to his feet. His feet struggled to balance on the earth, head spinning from hitting it against the tree.

"But," Junki began, eyes filling with pity and concern for her friend.

"Now!" Shinku roared, chakra attacking them. Itachi grabbed her hand, shaking his head and pulling her away. "And you," Shinku yanked Hibiki closer to him, "We're going to talk to Inoichi, now!"

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><p>Urami laid sprawled out next to her sister, chest rising and falling in a frenzied pace. Both girls had cuts filled with dirt and blood cloaking their skin. Raiden sat beside them, knees pulled up to his chest as his body quaked with the aftershocks of his forced Kekkei Genkai. Since the development wasn't natural to him, it caused him great pain afterwards, the reason why Orochimaru considered him a failure and didn't come after him when he escaped.<p>

"Sorry," He breathed out, wincing as the chakra in his chest crackled, tightening around his lung painfully.

"Whatever," Urami hissed, glaring at him. It pained her to know that even when they were only sparing, he could beat them. They were going all out, and she didn't doubt for a minute that he was holding back the entire time. He was the perfect match for them, he could kill them in a moment but would protect them at all cost.

"It was good practice." Amai stated, slowly rising to sit up. Running her fingers though raven locks, she managed to untangle the rocks from her hair, thudding as they hit the ground.

"No, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have used that Jutsu on either of you, it was unacceptable." Raiden looked Amai dead in the eye, storm grey meeting salmon pink. Amai held his gaze, her body buzzing, before she looked away, the sky was so blue like the water back in her birthplace.

How she missed that wonderful place so much.

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><p><em>"Twins, don't go to far now! The water is much to deep for two little girls who just learned how to swim." An elderly women laughed, the wrinkles around her dark pink eyes becoming more prominate.<em>

_"We won't, Grandma!" The six year old girls said in sync, laughing as they splashed each other carelessly. Clear blue water surroned the girls as they relaxed in the small pond, koi fish swimming near them, darting away when the girls got close. The damp sand under their feet shifting with every step, tickling their feet, it was official, their lives were perfect._

_"Lady Irai, Lady Irai come quickly! You're son he…" A frantic woman slammed the sliding back door open, stopping when she saw the two girls looking at her strangely. The old women's face darkened as she folded her arms in the sleeves of her dress, shuffling quickly past the messager giving her a firm order to stay with Urami and Amai._

_"What's going on?" Amai questioned, large eyes wide as she cocked her head to the side, black hair dripping wet. The women stared at the two girls, flinching back from the question. Tears filled her eyes, and she fell to her knees._

_"I'm so sorry Lady Amai and Urami, I'm so very sorry."_

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><p><em>Amai wrapped her arms around her sister, holding her close to her chest as she sobbed. Their grandmother and mother sat before them, faces stoned into an emotionless mask. Applying a similar façade to her own face, Amai rubbed Urami's back, sniffling slightly, trying her hardest to be strong for her sister.<em>

_"You're father wouldn't want you to cry for him girls," Lady Irai stated, her own voice cracking, "Lady Amai you are now the matriarch of the Yoshida clan. Your mother and sisters are part of the side branch, you must step up to take your place and lead your clan. Of course, until you are fifteen I will guide you and rule the clan in place of you."_

_"Yes, but Urami must stay with me." Amai clutched onto her sister tighter. Their grandmother her old heart breaking, didn't dare separate the two girls._

_"Alright, Amai, she can stay with you." Lady Irai sighed, glancing at their mother,Kensei, out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes were filled with emotions, hurt, betrayal, anger, and determination. Lady Irai shrugged it off, blaming it on the death of Kensei's husband, and the twin's father. How she would regret that in the near future._

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><p><em>Amai struggled to keep up with her Grandmother as they rushed through the trees, white smoke blowing in her face as she panted. The sounds of battle echoed behind them, only making Amai want to sit down and cry.<em>

_It seems that their mother was livid about being denounced to the side branch after her husband's death, feeling as if she had been cheated. Angered and hurt, she lashed out against the elders, gathering a few of the skilled branch members with promises to raise their rank if they helped her obtain the title of the matriarch._

_Of course to do that, Amai had to die, along with her sister Urami who was second in line. Kensei had not problems with killing her daughters, entering their rooms late at night, kitchen knife held firmly in her hands._

_Urami had woken up screaming, accidentally activating her Kekkei Genkei and throwing her mother back into the wall. One of the maids had burst into the room, gathering the two girls quickly and ushering them out the back door where their grandmother was waiting for them. The attack began soon after, clan members fighting clan members in a bloody battle for power._

_"I'm taking you to a place where you'll be safe, this women will raise you, and when it is time, when the Yoshida clan is ready, I will come for you so you may take your rightful place as leader of the Yoshida." Their grandmother placed one hand on each of their shoulders, kneeling down. "Amai, you are the future of the clan, you must become strong, master your Kekkei Genki and improve it, make it your own. Urami, protect your sister with your life, you two are twins, you have a bond not even the closest of siblings could understand."_

_"Yes, Grandma," The two girls whimpered, looking at the beautiful middle-aged women who stepped out of the large house, her sapphire eyes scanning over them._

_"Remember who you are girls, if I should fail, you must returen, and fight to take back what is your birth right. Always remember, trust no one but each other." Their grandmother stood up, giving them each one last kiss before running back into the undergrowth._

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><p><strong>Hey, quick update huh? I still need those character moves from some of you, if you don't know what I'm talking about go look at my Author section in the last chapter. <strong>

**Fun Fact: Urami and Amai are not originally from the Village hidden in the Cloud, but are from the Land of Lightning. Amai's stotic behavior is due to her mother's betrayal, and Urami's protectiveness is due to her grandmother's parting words. Sad story isn't it? Amai is part of the main branch since she was born first, and Urami was going to be sent to the side branch with her mother since their father was no longer alive.**


	12. Trigger Word

Kenpu really didn't like Natsumi at all. She was short tempered, a girl living in a delusional world, and worst of all she was an outsider. At the same time he liked her, she was kind to him and she respected his village. Unfortunately the dislikes outweighed the likes.

Natsumi's smooth blue hair dripped with water, it slid down her arms and back, returning to the small pond she was standing on. Hakuro smirked, green eyes shining with curiosity as Natsumi opened a blue medium sized scroll holding it vertically in front of her chest, the kanji for 'blade' in the middle of the off white paper surrounded by thirteen smaller symbols.

"Weapon Scroll Summoning: Kama of the Panther." Natsumi presented, one of the symbols spinning. White fog covered her, hiding her from Hakuro's view. Hakruo jumped, unsure of Natusmi's intentions and landed on the pond where Kenpu was observing them. He retreated into farther back, not wanting to disturb their spar.

When Natsumi emerged, she was spinning two black cylinder sticks with black curved blades on the top, three silver lines decorated the handle, as if a panther had scratched it. The mist instantly clung to the weapon giving it a beautiful shine.

This was one of the fourteen weapons Natusmi had mastered, thirteen held in the blade scroll. The last sword was attached to her back, to precious to her to lock away in a roll of paper.

Running forwards, Natsumi raised the Kama in her left hand, using the handle to block Hakuro's kick, twisting her body to slash the weapon in her right hand across Hakuro's midsection.

The weapon was yanked from her hand, five fingers clamping around her wrist and twisting, forcing her to her knees to avoid breaking it. She gasped, taking in Kenpu's mismatched green and blue eyes, the strange alieness of them made him seem intimidating, unworldly.

"You almost cut her." He growled, slightly cursing himself for letting her get a glimpse of his eyes. He threw Natsumi's arm to the side, stalking away with his hands shoved in the pockets of his trench coat. The Kama clattered loudly as it hit the damp ground, the ducks floating in the large pond flew away in sync. As Kenpu disappeared into the mist, Hakuro sighed loudly, pulling a shocked Natsumi to her feet.

"Why does he hate me so much," Natsumi questioned, picking up her Kama and returning it to the scroll. "or rather, why does he hate my village so much?"

"I know this is going to sound really stupid but don't take it personal. He has his reasons," Hakuro defended, combing her fingers though her hair. Since she was used to the humidy brought by the summer mist of the Mist Village, her hair didn't frizz, and since Natusmi was used to the humid months of the Whirlpool village, neither girl felt the real need to fix their hair. Hakuro only did it to keep her hands busy.

"How can I not take it personally? He's a moody jerk with a serious attitude problem." Natsumi mumbled the last part of the sentence, barely hesitating as she followed Hakuro back to the girl's house. It was much more welcoming than the high class hotel room she had been assigned during her stay.

"I get what you're saying, really, but Kenpu," Hakuro sighed, closing her eyes tightly, "he used to be so passionate about the world. He even told me about this wild dream he had to travel around the world," She let out a short laughed, voice beginning to shake. "Talking about insane ideas of going around and learning all the interrogations techniques from all the greatest interrogators in the world, his idol was Ibiki of the Leaf Village."

"What happened, if he wanted to travel so bad, what happened to make him hate everyone so much." Natsumi was actually curious. She knew close to nothing about Kenpu, other than his battle styles and over the top hatred of other villages. Hakuro's face clouded over, she tilted her face down.

"It-it's not my place to tell you." She whispered, perking up as she opened the door to her house, the smell of baking fish and roasted nuts filling the two girls and making their mouths water. "Mom, I'm home, I brought Natsumi over for dinner!" Hakuro screeched happily when a slightly older boy who looked shockingly like Hakuro hugged her from behind.

"Hey twerp, and hello to the beautiful Whirlpool maiden." He flashed Natsumi a smile, walking passed them and into the kitchen. Hakuro pulled Natsumi into the kitchen, waving to her father who was playing Go with her grandmother, who was smirking as her knight attacked and killed the father's king.

"Hello Natsumi dear, it's great to see you again. Hakuro, where's Kenpu? He always comes over for dinner." Natsumi's mother frowned, she saw Kenpu as a sort of nephew and it pained her to think that he might not eat something decent like he normally did if he didn't eat with them.

"He had some thinking to do." Hakuro shrugged, pulling Natsumi down the hall to her room.

"Oh," Hakuro's mother breathed out, her eye catching the picture on the window seal. Three children stood together, Hakuro standing the middle. There were two boys standing on either side of her, one was a smiling Kenpu, his mismatched eyes barely showing through his bangs. On her left was a tall black haired boy with blue eyes, his sharpened teeth showing as he smiled, he held both hands behind his head in a relaxed pose.

_Oh, Kiken, if only you knew how much Kenpu looked up to you_, Hakruo's mom thought, placing her hands back into the soppy tainted water.

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><p>The hospital had an air of sadness and misplaced hope, bouncing off the walls with the cries of the wounded. He hated how white it was in there, as if color was to precious to waste on the dying and depressed.<p>

Kenpu walked past the nurses' station, waving lazily at a brown haired women who answered the telephone. She smiled at him, her eyes radiating pity for the young boy who walked through those doors every week. Not bothering to tell him that visiting hours were over, she returned to the pile on her desk and sighed, it really sucked working the night shift.

"Hey Kiken." Kenpu stood beside the hospital bed, arms wrapped around his shoulders. The white walls, tile floors, and beep of the moniter. A wave of depression washed over him, before it was wiped out with loneliness that surrounded him as he looked down on his cousin. "I know you can't hear me, and even if you could you'd be tired of hearing me say this but, I promise, I'm going to find that guy who did this to you, I'm going to make him release the Gen Jutsu and then, we can torture him to death, together, like old times.

And all of us can go on missions together again, you, me, and Hakuro. I'm sure the Mizukage will let you go on Chunnin missions with us, I know we'll pass, if you were here you'd wipe the floor with everyone in the Chunnin exams, especially that Raiden guy. If only you had been there with us instead of that Whirlpool freak, we'd have won easy." Kenpu paused, closing his eyes as they began to sting, "I promise, I won't let her take your place, she's an outsider. If I had only listened to you about the dangers of the world, about how brutal they were. But don't worry I won't let her harm the village, no one will ever harm you or this village as long as I'm alive."

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><p>"Well," Shinku crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at Hibiki as he shifted in his seat. Inochi felt sorry for the boy, writing down the last of his report on Hibiki before standing up and presenting it to the Third Hokage.<p>

"Shinku, your obviously convinced that something is wrong with young Hibiki, and according to your story of the training session earlier, those thoughts are not unfounded. What do you have to say about this Hibiki?" The Third turned to him, his eyes slightly sunken into his head with age, and Hibiki could sense the strong chakra contained into him.

Keeping silent, Hibiki closed off his chakra, making it impossible for anyone to know what he was feeling. He really didn't know what to say, it's like ever since that bird had voiced his fears during the Hearing test, that he couldn't fully control himself. He used to ignore those who shunned him because of his blindness, but now he found that he took joy in making them suffer, listening to their wonderful cries as he poisoned them. There was something wrong with him, Hibiki wouldn't deny that.

"Lord Hokage," A women stepped into the room, "Hibiki's father is here as you requested." The Third nodded, his head hiding the upper half of his face. Hibiki stiffened, biting his lip as he felt the familiar chakra of his father stride into the room, obviously aggravated and annoyed with being pulled away from his clan affairs.

"You summoned me, Lord Hokage?" The man's deep voice rumbled in Hibiki's chest, making him feel sick. How he hated this man, if only he wasn't the only thing connecting him to his mother, he would have left the clan long ago. "If this is about Hibiki's disability becoming a liability to his teammates and a hazard to himself then I am more than willing to remove him from the Shinobi program." Hibiki fisted his hands, dull eyes sparking as if they were alive, there that word was again, liability.

"Hibiki is a wonderful addition to the Leaf Village, Lord Mukushi, he has more than proven himself to be on par with the ninja of this village, and has talent far beyond his rank." The Third noted bluntly, he too was aware of Mukushi's desire to end Hibiki's career as a ninja.

The man was a world class sensor, wanted in one less Bingo books than Orochimaru. He had been stubborn in his ideals of what a man needed to be a ninja, and was rather old fashion. Mukushi didn't belive women should be fighters, but instead medics. A ninja needed to be loyal, needed to be stealthy, secretive, his senses must be top of the line, sight was included. So of course when his wife gave birth to a blind son, he wasn't heartbroken, he was devistated. Hibiki's decision to become a ninja annoyed Mukushi. In his eyes, Hibiki was only trying to defy the unenviable, and would get himself killed trying to prove a point that could not be proven.

"We're here because of Shinku's concerns about Hibiki's….mental stability." The Third nodded towards, Inochi, giving him permission to begin his report. Inochi coughed into his gloved hands, attempting to make eye contact with Hibiki, mentally laughing at himself for doing something so stupid.

"I have found something wrong in Hibiki's psyche, a sort of defensive mechanism his chakra created that sits in the corner of his mind and waits. When it activates it seems to alter him in a way that will cause him to destroy the threat at all cost." Inochi flipped through the clip board trying to word it carefully.

"Waits for what exactly?" Mukushi asked, glancing at his son out of the corner of his golden eyes, the color Hibiki's should have been.

"I'm not sure exactly, but if it's like other defensive mind techniques I've seen before, its most likely a trigger word. Although there is no way to do a complete analisis because Hibiki is so young, so I can't make a clear diognistic on his condition or how that could affect his performance on the field." Inochi concluded, looking at the Third who nodded his head.

"Alright then, it seems this thing won't harm anyone that isn't threatening to kill or hurt Hibiki. If that is the case I see no reason to remove him from active duty, but Hibiki, if this thing gets out of control I will not hesitate to pull you from your life as a ninja. Dismissed."

"Come Hibiki." Mukushi growled, spinning around and striding towards the door and for the first time Hibiki wished his eyes could talk. People with sight could show emotions in their eyes, using shape and other things Hibiki couldn't understand. He never used his eyes, never tried to move them or do anything with the, he never saw the point. He really wanted to make them speak to the Hogake, to beg him without words not to make him go home with the man assigned the tittle father.

He couldn't talk with his eyes though, because they weren't alive, they were lifeless, sightless, and worst of all a liablity.

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><p><strong>Alright nothing much to say here, kind of a depressing chapter. Next chapter will be the first battle between Itachi and Natsumi.<strong>

**Fun Fact: Kiken is the teammate who Natsumi replaced. He is Kenpu's role model, being two years older than him. Kiken is in a coma due to a powerful Gen Jutsu that can only be removed by it's caster, who Kenpu has sworn to find and force him to release Kiken.**


	13. The Tornament Begins

The Rice Country had no formal Ninja village, all the shinobi were located in different post towns around the country, all receiving orders from central intelligence leaders in the capital. Of course there was talk of creating an actual ninja Village, but that wasn't confirmed by anyone at the moment. The final rounds were taking place in the largest city in the Rice Country, Shisuwan.

Small booths were set up on the roads towards the stadium, venders selling food, candy, noise makes, and even dress up headbands from each village. There were some things advertising the candidates as well; play swords duplicated to look similar to Natsumi's, fake tattoo's that were smaller versions of Haruhi's dragon tattoo, harmonicas with Amai and Urami's clan symbols on the top, and many other things.

The longest line, stretching around the city , belonged to the ticket booth. Children danced around wielding wooden weapons, never straying to far from their mothers. Humid and insect infested, the air irritated many of the visitors.

Soon the many spectators sat in the stadium, excitement and anticipaton, all looking down on the twelve young Gennin standing side by side. Shallow merchants made bets in the shade of the arena walls, a small festival going on around them. The five men were each hunched over paper booklets containing information on the participants. Each page contained a picture and a small wed showing the Gennin's skills in Gen, Nin, Ti Jutsu, sword usage, intelligence, speed, and hand signs.

"I'm going with the girl from the Whirlpool village, Natsumi Uzumaki. Her sword skills are remarkable, and she's the daughter of the Natsuha, The Steel Lotus of the Whirlpool. With genes like that, she can't lose!" One man laughed, his belly shaking as he laughed, his red rode stretching.

"Hmph, I disagree, her first match is against Itachi Uchiha, and everyone knows that the Uchiha's are unbeatable, he's the safest bet. And look at these," Another man in a brown tunic and shallow green eyes pointed to the skills chart on Itachi's page, "He's status is unparalleled by any of these amateur cretins."

"You of all people should know that those things are never accurate, he could be a complete failure, the Uchiha might have just paid for someone to boost his ratings so they wouldn't be completely shamed by his miserable appearance. Well, I'm going to split my money in between the three Sand girls, although I'll have to put a bit more on this Haruhi girl, she seems promising." The third was a women, plump and wearing dark purple lipstick.

"You' re all so boring," This women was far younger than her companions, her red and yellow hair slightly frizzy from the humidty, "Why not go for the long shot, that way even if they only win one battle you reap in millions. I'm going to bet on this Hibiki boy."

"But he's blind! I heard it was a fluke he even got to this round, pure luck plus he was being watched over by the Uchiha!" The second man argued, shaking his booklet in her face. She laughed, flipping her hair behind her shoulder.

"No one get's this far on a fluke, and not even an Uchiha can help someone pass that many test. I have a feeling this kids going to surprise everyone! He'll make me rich by days end!" She waved to her companions walking away to the betting booth.

The final person was an elderly man, many yellow teeth missing, "I've seen a million of these test, and you're all inexperanced little twerps. The smart one to put your money on are the Cloud village gennin. The Cloud trains their young to absolute perfection, every year the Cloud sends an outstanding batch of children to participate. I'll be doing the smart thing and pledge on Raiden Kiyomizu. I'll put a couple yen on the two other one's though."

"Hm, well I suppose we'll see who's right and whose wrong by the end of the week, good day gentlemen."

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><p>Itachi's black eyes concentrated on the crowd, smiling softly when he saw his brother waving to him from high in the section reserved for the clan, Shisui standing next to him, a huge grin on each of their faces. On Itachi's right was Junki, madly waving at her favorite older cousin, Ko, who was also the caretaker of Hinata, the heiress. He could feel Hibiki's chakra spreading through the audience, looking for someone, most likely his mother. Itachi could see her in one of the lower levels, a tall nurse by her side, making sure the many hooks and wires were properly secured to her arms. Reaching over, Itachi raised Hibiki's hand in her direction, nodding his head at Hibiki's quiet thanks.<p>

The sickly women smiled, her golden eyes filled with pride as she weakly raised her hand to wave back. Her husband sat by her side, nodding to Itachi in respect.

"Welcome, to you all!" The Lord of the Rice Country stood up in his booth, the Kazekage, Mizukage, Hokage, and Raikage all present, sitting in regal chairs high above the actual arena. "We are honored to host this years Chunnin exams. Before you stands the best of this years participants. Each has proven themselves through the difficult journey that began almost two months ago. They are all here to compete for winning the honor to be called a Chunnin. The last three competeors will automaticly make chunnin level, but it is up to the Kage to decide the fate of the others. These battles will take place over four days, so please enjoy our wonderful country while you're here. Now, let the tournament begin!"

The crowd roared their approval, waving flags from many different nations to show their Gennin support. The proctor walked onto the field, facing the twelve children with a bored look. His sleek purple hair was pulled back with a black bandana, his silver eyes drooping slightly.

"Well, now, aren't you all just the cutest bunch of kids I've ever seen." He yawned, slightly stunned by the young ages of the candidates. The youngest was ten and the oldest was fourteen, the man snorted, were the Kage really that desperate for ninja that they'd send children to do their dirty work? "My name is Tsukifuyu, and I'll be your final proctor. Well unless you're a loser and fail and have to take it again next time, then I might have to see your hideous faces again."

"Ah, you must be really good with children, huh, Tsukifuyu ? And I bet the ladies love your blunt sarcasm!" Junki flashed him a smile, slinging an arm over Itachi's shoulder. Gently pushing her away, Itachi focused on everyone around him. The sand ninja were to their left, Imu was glaring at Junki with a rivaled passion.

Tsukifuyu used his index finger to rub his temple, eyes closed tightly. "So you must be the one, Hihi was telling me about, the one with a big mouth and no manners."

"She wouldn't say that about me! She adores my charisma!" Junki declared, posing before him. The man ignored her pointing to a gate to the section reserved for the Gennin.

"If your name isn't Itachi Uchiha or Natsumi Uzumaki, get your lousy butts off my arena!" He growled, watching with smug satisfaction as seven deadly glares were sent his way and one finger. They all marched passed him, heads high as they presented themselves to the audience.

Soon Itachi was alone in the middle of the stadium with Tsukifuyu and the girl with a side blue pony tail, her turquoise eyes gazing back at him, full of confidence and slightly curious. Tsukifuyu ordered them to shake hands, standing slightly in between them.

"Begin!" The audience began cheering, Sasuke and Shisui loudly chanting Itachi's name.

Natsumi yanked the Blade scroll from her pouch, the thirteen symbols spinning faster than Itachi's Sharingan. "Weapon Summoning Scroll: Whip of the Alligator!" A huge rush of smoke covered her from the audiences view, but Itachi's Sharingan easily picked out her chakra signature. Pulling three shuriken from his holster, Itachi jumped back as a leather rope slithered out of the smoke towards him.

It cracked a few inches from his face, chakra sparking from the tip. Itachi fired the shuriken as the whip retracted, the smoke finally clearing and Natsumi was still standing in the middle of the arena, the alligator skin whip laying partially on her on the ground beside her.

"You're sending your chakra though the whip," Itachi observered, looking directly into Natsumi's eyes, "the result is a stronger and more accurate hit when the whip connects with it's target. A very admirable technique."

"Thanks." Natsumi replied, raising the handle and snapping her wrist forward, the whip springing to life, flying towards Itachi. Jumping to the side, Itachi fired his shuriken, Sharingan spinning as he looked into Natsumi's eyes. Natsumi used her left hand to unsheathe the Kanata on her back, deflecting each one easily. The metal sparked against the blade, before she twisted the handel, aiming the blade to reflect the sun to blind him.

Natsumi knew all about the Sharingan, she had spent weeks studying up anything she could find, even talking to her mother about strategies to defeat them. The Sharingan specialized in Gen Jutsu, and allowed the user a kind of ability to see a few moments ahead to help them dodge and counter attack. As long as he could see use those eyes, Natsumi knew her chances at winning go down considerably, but if she could find a way to temporarily, or permantly, keep him from using the Sharingan she would be more than a match for him.

Itachi clutched his eyes shut, the sharp beam reflecting off the blade blinding him, he brought his hand up to shield his eyes. The whip wrapped around his leg, yanking him in the air, and down towards Natsumi. Bringing her blade up, she shoved it into Itachi's abdomen, the blade exiting Itachi's body in his lower back. Blood leaked off the edge of the blade as Itachi was stabbed in mid air, the whip uncoiling form his ankle slowly.

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><p>Not a lot to say…Happy Birthday to my little sister Leah, who is turning 10!<p>

Fun Fact: Tsukifuyu is Hihi's (the proctor of the Written and Hearing test) husband. That makes you think doesn't it?

Read and Review.


	14. Itachi vs Natsumi

There was a loud thud as Itachi's body slid off on Natsumi's sword and onto the ground, thick crimson blood leaking from his wounds. His chest shuddered violently with each breath, face turning pale as all the blood drained from his body. Natsumi stepped away from his body, bewildered that the match was over so easily. Wasn't this kid an Uchiha?

The audience was silent around her, a crow wailed above her, perching in one of the lower branches of a bush. Natsumi stepped away from Itachi's hyperventilating body, glancing at the proctor expectecticly. Why hadn't he stepped in to stop the match, Natsumi had pierced his smaller intestines, he would need medical care immediately. The crow cried again, it's ruby eyes looking directly at Natsumi.

Dropping her weapons to the ground, Natsumi brought her fingers up to form the release sign. It was a Gen Jutsu, how could she have been so stupid, there was no way it would be that easy to beat an Uchiha. The sky began shifting, a sped up version of day and night as the sun traveled across the sky ten seconds, the moon rising and falling in twelve. The ground under her became sand, the grainy bits scratching her legs as the wind whipped her hair across her face.

The crow dove forward, its claws tearing into her flesh, the Sharingan blazing. Natsumi cried out, unable to complete the hand sign as she brought her hands out to protect her face as a flock of charcoal crows attacked her, pecking at her hair.

Seven of the birds hudeled on the ground together only three feet away from Natsumi. They began to warp into a human body, Itachi. Natsumi's eyes widened, pulling a kunai from her pocket and slicing at the birds, but every time she decapitated one, two more would form. Itachi stood watching her, inattentive , watching her pointless attempts.

Natsumi's arms grew heavy as her body began to tire, the birds still scratching into her limbs. Dropping the blade, she quickly put her hands together.

"Release!"

Natsumi dropped to the ground, several self inflicted cuts on her arms and legs, stands of hair laid around her. Panting heavily, her body shook violently as she looked up. Itachi stood patiently in the same spot as when the battle began, the arena cheering loudly around them.

"When?" she gasped, struggling to her fee, grabbing her scrolls and replacing them in her pouch, her sword flung far out of her reach, to close to Itachi for her to even attempt retrieving it.

"From the moment you looked into my Sharingan, you were captured in my Gen Jutsu." He answered bluntly, standing calmly with his hands at his sides. Natsumi shoved her pony tail behind her shoulder, the movement making the cuts on her arms burn painstakingly.

He was way stronger than she originally planned, never had she heard of a Gen Jutsu being cast with a eye contact alone, this boy was a true genius. She wanted to save this for the final round, but it seems that it would be essential in her win.

Itachi blurred foreward, kunai slashing downward. Quickly pulling a hidden dagger from her pants, Natsumi used it to defend herself, the spark between them anything but romantic. Shifting her grip, Natsumi twisted around Itachi, pushing her dagger forward towards his back. Dropping to the ground, Itachi swept his feet under her, moving back as she jumped to the air, firing shuriken and kunai with faultless accuracy.

Itachi ran forward, darting to the side to avoid the onslaught of weapons, throwing three shuriken at her. Still in mid air, Natsumi frowned, using her dagger to deflect each one easily, running the moment her feet hit the ground. Their blades clashed again, orange sparks crying as they fell to the ground. Itachi's red eyes met Natsumi's turquoise as their faces were inches apart. Both jumped back, slidding slightly when they landed. Breathing heavily, they stared eachother down, silently praising the others speed and skill.

Itachi dropped into a defensive stance as Natsumi tortuously pulled a shiny silver scroll from her pouch, never taking her eyes off of Itachi.

There was no point in using Gen Jutsu again, it had taken a good amount of his chakra to cast a Gen Jutsu without hand signs, a relatively new technique he had been practicing on Junki and Shinku for weeks. He practiced his regular Gen Jutsu on Hibiki, who still needed practice breaking and sensing them. Showing off his techniques this early in the tournament would also be foolish, and since she relied on swords, this would be an excellent opportunity to show off his Tai Jutsu and Shuriken skills.

"Weapon Summoning Jutsu!" This time, there was no dramatic cloud of smoke, as a golden sword hilt materialized her in hand. Itachi reactivated his Sharingan, gazing at the bladeless hilt. Natsumi smirked, raising her bladeless sword above her head, body tense as she spread her legs farther apart.

"Wind Style: Steel Gust!" She yelled, air whipping around the arena, Itachi's bangs slightly limited his vision as they slapped his eyes. Squinting he watched as the air around Natsumi began to warp. Focusing her chakra into the hilt of the sword, she felt the air shape itself into the swords blade. Taking multiple explosive tags out of her pouch, throwing them above her head, the tags attached themselves to the wind, wrapping around until it outlined the wind, making it appear as if the sword was made out of the tags.

"You're a Wind chakra user." Itachi observed, taking his out own kunai. Natsumi brought the sword down in front of her. So that meant as a Fire chakra user, he had the type advantage, but he wasn't sure what she was planning to do with that sword, so he'd have to be cautious until he knew how she used it.

Not answering, Natsumi rushed forward, slamming her foot onto the ground as she took to the air. Itachi blurred forward, kicking upwards with his left leg, retracting it quickly when she brought down her sword. It brushed his pant leg, one of the explosive tags attached to his leg, wrapping tightly as the other explosive tags slinked onto his leg. Natsumi grinned, jumping back as he leg began to glow red, sizzeling as Itachi tried desperately to rip them off. Her now tagless sword rested at her side, the wind still blaring out of the hilt.

The deafening crack of the ground shook the stadium, grass and rocks spewing into the air, smoke sweeping out in all directions.

"Fire Style: Pheniox flower Jutsu!" small disk of fire, shot out at Natsumi. She ducked under the first, doing her best to avoid using her wind sword to deflect the fire. The smoke cleared, Itachi standing unharmed in the middle, hands speeding through signs again, this time a Justu he copied from the white haired girl in the second test. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Three more Itachis materialized behind her, kunai in hand. She bit her lip, gripping the hilt of her wind sword a bit tighter. She closed her eyes, blue hair flapping in the wind. Snapping her eyes open she spun around to face the two clones, jumping into the air.

"Wind Style: Explosive Sword!" Natsumi aimed brought her sword down as if she was actually cutting the enemy. "Breeze!" She exclaimed. A sharp wind erupted from the hilt, pushing her farther into the air. The two clones were assaulted by a sharp wind, their skin splitting open . The ground below them was pumbled, a hole quickly appearing when the clones dispersed. Flipping around, she aimed the attack at the real Itachi. The wind shivered, before tunneling towards Itachi, slicing deep cuts into the earth as it moved.

The Sharingan spun quickly as Itachi flipped out of the way, one blast still slicing into his shirt. Blood squirted from the wound, dripping down his arm. Natsumi reaimed the hilt at Itachi, pointing it at him, confidence radiating in her eyes. That one wound had given her a burst of courage.

Itachi felt himself become consumed by the wind, the air tearing at his flesh, the dirt and debris banging into him. Closing his eyes, Itachi began to make hand signs, ignoring the sting of the attack. His eyes shot open, the smallest of smirks on his face.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" He shouted, muffled by the wind. A large dragon shot from his mouth, the air and wind fueling it and making it three times stronger. It's eyes focused on Natsumi, charging straight towards her. Forced to end her Jutsu, Natsumi struggled to move out of the way, that last Jutsu taking the majority of her chakra and making her body sore. The dragon smashed into her side, making her fly back into the wall.

She groaned in pain, before falling unconscious, blood staining her hair and pure exhaustion taking over. The proctor walked over calmly, not even glancing at Itachi who had fallen to his knees, shaking in pain.

He lightly touched her head, cringing at the small gash in the back of Natsumi's head. Standing up he motioned to the medics, then faced the crowed. "The winner, Itachi Uchiha."

The crowd roared in delighted pleasure, Junki jumping up and down as she cheered loudly for her younger teammate. One of the medics jogged over Itachi, kneeling beside him.

"Please come with me, and allow us to tend to your wounds." He demanded, taking Itachi by the arm and guiding the limping boy away. Standing in the direct line of the powerful Justsu did much more damage than Itachi had thought, had he not been an Uchiha or a fire chakra user, he would have been killed.

* * *

><p>"That was a very interesting battle indeed," the Kazekage nodded, his hand resting on the arm of the blue chair. Four of the five Kage sat together in the V.I.P, looking down at the arena. "That girl is from your village, Mizukage?"<p>

"No," The man grunted, a mask shielding his face, " she's a transfer from Whirlpool, temporary of course."

"Hm, that's unusual. What do you think Hogake, she preformed well against your prized Uchiha." The Raikage drawled, reclining in the yellow chair.

"She's talented, if Itachi didn't have the chakra nature advantage, the outcome may have been very different." The Third Hokage pulled smoke into his lungs form his pipe, releasing it slowly.

* * *

><p>"The next match between Haruhi Kinimoto and Urami Yoshida." The proctor announced, running his hands through his hair. Haruhi turned away from her teammates, only to be attacked from Choko from behind as she gave her a tight hug, giggling as Haruhi wiggled away. Urami chose a more dramatic entrance, jumping over the rail and falling gracefully to the middle of the arena.<p>

"Well this should be interesting," Imu muttered, blue eyes trained firmly on her rival. "I remember reading about the Yoshida clan specializing in Sound Jutsu, and I know Haruhi has knowledge of this as well. She spent the entire night planning strategy after strategy and as much as I despise her, they were all brilliant."

"Yeah of course! After all Haruhi was trained by the An-…..Hmm!" Choko protested when Imu slapped her hand over her mouth. She leaned down slightly to whisper in Choko's ear.

"Look here, Choko. I don't like Haruhi, at all, but if you haven't noticed those kids are from the Leaf village! We can't let them know who Haruhi is, or all chaos will break loose, got it brat?"

"Yeah yeah I got it. You know you can pretend to hate Haruhi all you want but I know that you like her or respect her. Which one do you think is better? I mean having someone like you makes you feel like you belong but respect makes you feel accomplished and-…Hmm!" Choko rambled until Imu once again replaced her hand on the small girl's mouth.

"Hush now, darling, the match is beging." Imu sighed, glancing at the two remaining Leaf Gennin out of the cornor of her eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>Poll on my page! You guys get to decide who passes and who fails, so go vote for your top 8!<strong>

**Fun Fact: Natsumi's creator is Snowy-Cherry san.**


	15. Haruhi vs Urami

Haruhi felt the energy of the crowd, their wild screams and chanting. It was uplifting, almost energizing. The fight had begun, so she focused her light blue eyes on the lone twin in front of her. Urami widened her stance, smiling slightly, watching as Haruhi glared at her. The wind blew north, pushing Haruhi's violent red hair behind her and Urami's straight black bangs in her face. The wind stopped, and they started.

Reaching behind her Haruhi grabbed a random amount of shurinken, throwing them flawlessly at her opponent. Urami flipped to the side, easily avoiding the line of shuriken thrown at her. Materializing behind the her, Haruhi landed a bone shuddering side kick to Urami's side, watching as the girl bounced across the floor before crashing into the wall on the other end of the field.

Birds in the distance took flight, the audiences' cheers sending a fresh run of adrenaline through her body, Haruhi watched as Urami shakily stood up, her pink eyes radiating hatred.

"Big mistake, now I can't ever let you walk again." Urami flashed her smile, her hands speeding through hand signs. "Voice Style: Root Growl!" The ground shook a bit, making the civillians scream earthquake while the shinobi rolled their eyes, now fully interested in the battle. The wall Urami crashed into began to split, bits of stone falling into her hair from above.

Dark green roots wiggled their way out of the cracks, hovering around Urami, waiting for her command. Haruhi's eyes widened, pulling a kunai from her pocket. She couldn't let Urami get the upper hand now, the begening of the battle was vital, whoever controlled the pace of the battle would most likely be the victor. She began forming hand signs, closing her eyes tightly as her lips parted.

"Bye now," Urami mouthed, the roots jerked forward, weaving through the air in perfect harmony. Haruhi was forced to stop her Jutsu, the vines getting closer. One slammed into the ground, Haruhi jumping to the side, cutting three vines with the blade as they came for her. One cut though her shirt, turning around to attack her again. Jumping into the air, Haruhi continued to slice the possessed vines, breathing hard as some slipped though her defense. Urami proofed behind her, intertwining her fingers and bringing her hands down on Haruhi's back.

Haruhi's body slammed into the ground, a small creator centered around her. The vines fell limp to the ground when Urami landed, instantly turning brown. Urami frowned; glaring down at her opponent's body, that was way too easy. She had never seen Haruhi's Jutsu before, but Urami was positive she wasn't the Ti Jutsu type.

Haruhi slowly rose to her feet, raising her head to look into Urami's eyes. The two girls stared at eachother, both breathing heavily.

"It seems that using Orange Claw wasn't a waste of chakra." Haruhi noted, watching as Urami glared viciously at her, pink eyes flashing hatefully. "Orange Claw makes my skin as hard as the scales of the mythical dragon, so every cut you see on my body is fake, your Jutsu was a waste." Haruhi explained, avoiding an onslaught of shuriken thrown at her in rage.

"You…when did you…." Urami paused looking back to the moment before she cast the Jutsu, when Haruhi had begun to form signs, it seems she had finished after all. Urami took a deep breath, fisting her small hands by her sides. She had to stay calm, she couldn't let Haruhi anger her. "Fine then, let's see you dodge this."

"No!" Haruhi snapped, hands blurring together, "From now on you will be dodging my attacks! Dragon Style: Violet Breath!" Haruhi blew purple flames out of her mouth, feeling a slight sting on her face from the heat. Urami's eyes widened, cart wheeling out of the way, firing kunai and shuriken with each movement. Closing her mouth, Haruhi hopped backwards, her hands forming new signs all the while. "Dragon Style: Crimson Tail!"

Haruhi's muscles tensed for a moment, rearranging themselves to be more agile, before Haruhi ran forward, punching Urami in the stomach. Urami coughed slightly, so close she breathed in the air Haruhi blew out, wrapping her fingers around Haruhi's slim wrist. With a small grin Urami whispered quietly so only Haruhi could hear.

"Voice Style: Vibrating Touch." Urami's hands began vibrating, tightening when Haruhi attempted to jerk her hand away. There was a loud cracking; Haruhi yelped falling to her knees before Urami, cradeling her hand near her stomach. Raising her fisit in the air, Urami slammed her hand down on the ground, narrowly missing Haruhi. Rolling across the floor, Haruhi trembled narrowed blue eyes watching Urami carefully.

"Dragon styl.." Haruhi hissed as a thick pain consumed her, making it impossible to form hand signs.

"Ah, ah ,ah!" Urami giggled, waving her finger tauntingly. "You're entire carpels is shattered, so you won't be making any more hand signs today. You see Vibrating Touch sends a high frequency vibration into your body with a single touch from my body, so a single hit to your heart will throw you into cardiac arrest." Urami paused, "Well that's what I think will happen anyway."

"That's a very intriguing Jutsu, it must take a lot of chakra." Haruhi gritted out, her wrist throbbing violently. Urami shrugged, running forward again. Haruhi sloppily dodged each attack, the pain still controlling her. Urami swung her foot at Haruhi's head, growing frustrated when Haruhi simply allowed herself to fall to the ground.

Haruhi contined to move backwards, dancing away from Urami's assault, moving only when Urami was inches from contact. Hopping backwards, Haruhi managed to put a large amount of distance between them, waiting.

Finally it came, Urami began shaking, eyes turning red. Falling to her knees, Urami wrapped her arms around her stomach, coughing violently in her hand.

"Wha..what's…wrong with m-me" Urami whimpered, body turning cold as her skin turned an unhealthy grey. She felt feverish, skin to tight to be her own.

"It seems you're immune system is very resistant to poison, it took much longer than normal for it to start working." Haruhi answered, still holding her broken limb close to her. Her red hair was now disorderly, bits of dirt sprinkled in her mane. Urami struggled to answer, before her body slumped forward, Urami falling unconscious.

The proctor didn't even bother checking her, simply waving to the medics. They lifted Urami onto a stretcher, slightly startled when Haruhi appeared next to them, a small vial in her palm.

"This is the antidote." She whispered, handing it to a handsome man, as they hurried away.

"The winner, Haruhi Kinimoto." The proctor announced, lifting his hand into the air.

* * *

><p>Amai's fingers curled on the railing, denting the strong matieral easily. Raiden had his back leaning on the wall, grey eyes watching her body language for any attempts at violence. There was no doubt in his mind she might try to rush out there and avenge her fallen sister; with his match next he wouldn't be up here to watch her, so she needed to be distracted.<p>

"Amai," Raiden called, pushing himself off the wall, "Let's go see how Urami's doing, she'd be upset if you weren't there when she woke up."

"I know what you're trying to do, Raiden. Don't think you've fooled me." Amai sighed, shoulders sagging as she followed Raiden to the medical wing of the stadium.

Urami should not have lost, she was so close, it was frustrating. They had trained so hard, and Urami had grown so much, she wasn't anywhere near Amai's level and she couldn't even hope to take on Raiden, but she should have been more than a match for Haruhi.

It didn't matter, she would get her turn with Haruhi soon enough. Weather it was in the arena or not.

* * *

><p><em><strong>This wasn't my best battle, I'm normally really good at battle scenes but for some reason I just couldn't see this one in my head. Oh well, I'll make up for it with a double battle next time….yeah I can totally do that! Awsome I'm going to write the next chapter now, bye bye. Oh and I'm keeping the poll up until Kenpu and Hibiki's match.<strong>_

_**Fun Fact: I am awesome a writing fighting scenes, but I suck at everything else.**_


	16. Choko vs Raiden

Raiden sighed, running his hands through his hands tiredly. Amai had agreed to stay put, but he couldn't spare any time getting back to her. The girl across from him was beaming avidly, bouncing on her toes as her short green hair flounced around her face.

Tsukifuyu grumbled under his breath, waiting for the crowd to quiet down a bit. He hated his job as proctor; he would never understand why Hihi insisted on volunteering for it every other year.

The earsplitting screams of the audience, chanting incoherent words as they cheered for the two participants.

"Hi!" Choko called waving uncontrollably to Raiden. Confused, he hesitantly waved back slightly, "My name's Choko, what's yours? Oh, wait that's a stupid question your names Raiden! You know I've been practicing for an entire month just to beat you, and it's really cool to finally get to face you! Hey, you look tired, did you not sleep well? I did, the hotel beds here are so soft, maybe you should transfer to our hotel they even have free room service. Although Imu and Haruhi never use it. This morning, I ordered three cookies, thwo pieces of cake, and some fruit. Haruhi was a bit upset, she thinks I should take better care of myself. In a way, I guess she's kind of like my sister since she's always looking out for me, do you have anyone like that? Or maybe do you have someone like me, I doubt it because Imu says I'm one of a kind, but I think she meant it in a bad way, but I'm not sure because she's been really nice lately…."

"To the hell with it!" Tsukifuyu yelled, the crowd silencing for a moment, mothers covering the ears of their young children. "You, little pretty puff, happy fairy!" he pointed to Choko, "Shut up! Begin!"

"Hey, that wasn't very nice! Raiden, tell him that wasn't very….yipe!" Choko did the splits, avoiding the three shuriken thrown close to her face. Realizing that the battle had started, Choko stood up, a smile still on her face, but orange eyes completely focused.

"You are very talkative." Raiden stated, widening his stance. Choko, unbelievably, said nothing reaching behind her and removing her tan and blue boomerange, it fit perfectly in her petie hand.

This boomerange was Choko's single weapon, no kunai, no shuriken, no swords, no nothing; the only thing she ever needed was this bent stick in her hand. Raiden rushed forward, spinning around to kick Choko in the head. Ducking at the last moment, she swept her feet under him, knocking him to the ground. Choko quickly jumped to the other side of the arena, desperate to force him into a long range fight.

Raiden's information in the black book had been sparse, only telling that he was a master in close distance fighting, so putting distance between them would force him out of his element. Unfortunately since Imu had lost the book, she couldn't go back and refresh her memory on anything it said specifically. Her only chance would be to attack him from a distance.

Flipping onto his feet, Raiden quickly began forming signs. "Ice Style: Swallow Storm." He jumped into the air, grey eyes flashing. Opening his palms he pointed them towards Choko. Sleek light blue birds modeled from ice dove downward in a perfect line. Choko raised her boomerage over her head, running her chakra into the weapon.

"Wind Style: Enhanced Tool!" Choko flung her boomerange forward, it spun wildly, blue and white chakra expanding the weapons range and sharpness. Easily cutting though the lethal ice birds, then curving violently, Choko's hand stung as she caught it, chakra returning to her. Raiden landed on one of his knees, rushing forward. Lifting her arm, Choko quickly blocked his assult, backing up with each kick or punch. Raiden was merciless, pulling out a kunai and slashing it downward across Choko's arm.

Yelping in pain, Choko brought up her boomerang, using it to block the kunai. Flipping over her head Raiden landed high on the wall, hands flipping though the signs of one of his newer Jutsu.

"Ice Style: Ice Needles!" He shouted, the water from the decapitated swallows raising, quickly freezing. They hovered in the air above Choko, waiting patiently for Raiden's signal. Choko quickly placed her boomeragne in her teeth, hands forming signs. Raiden's eyes widened, his body tensing as the needles shot downwards, a brown cloud exploding upwards, covering Choko completely. Jumping back down, Raiden stood motionlessly twenty meters away from, it was almost impossible that she escaped, but the word almost kept him on guard.

The cloud began to clear, the audience silence as they all leaned forward, trying to see Choko's condition. A large tan object appeared from the smoke, Choko standing behind it with a toothy smile on her face. Her boomerage was now as a foot taller than her and four times as wide, thin broken blue needles laying around them as they slowly melted, to weak to penetrate Choko's shield.

"How…" Raiden breathed, staring at the needles in wonder. Glaning upwards, he grinned at Choko, "I congratulate you on making my Jutsu look live child's play, really, I worked really hard to get it ready for this tornament and you just blew it away like it was nothing."

"Thank you!" Choko beamed, gripping the side of the enlarged returned to it's normal size, "You're really fun to fight by the way. I've never battled a Ice user before, I defiantly have a disadvantage." She continued, taking a step back to attempt to once again attempt a long range fight. Still grinning, Raiden disappeared, suddenly behind her.

He slammed his foot into her back, sending her sprawling forward, boomerang dropped at his feet. Slowly rising to her feet, Choko's orange eyes stayed locked on her beloved weapon, a look of confusion on her face. Placing his foot on the boomerang, Raiden watched her carefully, hands performing quick hand signs.

"Ice Style: Swallow Storm" Raiden repeated, he couldn't reveal to many of his techniques in the first round, besides, he was starting to run low on chakra. The sleek blue birds twirld from his fingers, soaring towards Choko in a spiral ring.

"Choko," Haruhi muttered, hard eyes watching the battle. Choko relied on her boomerange heavily, without it, there was no way Choko would win, or ever survive. Without her boomerang, Choko was as skilled as a first year academy student.

Choko turned around, running quickly in a zigzag pattern, hearing them crash one by one behind her. Coping her boomerang, Choko turned hard, returning to face Raiden. Leaping into the air, Choko made signs with her hands. Her normal cheerful demeanor was gone, as she stared down on Raiden.

" Summoning Jutsu!" As she fell to the ground she slammed her bloodied palm onto the demolished ground, smoke rushing up everywhere. Raiden didn't move, already forming new hand signs.

"Ice Clone Jutsu!" Three Raidens poofed in front of him, standing in a defensive triangle. The smoke cleared, Choko standing on the back of a thirteen feet tall tan and blue praying mantes. In striking brown eyes stared loopsidely at Raiden, shaking it's head back and forth slowly. Her arms were crossed over her chest, a slight pout on her lips.

"Hogasha, meet Raiden." Choko introduced, her tone slightly upset.

"Pleasure to meet you, lad." Hogasha chuckled, his voice rasy and deep. Bowing slightly to Raiden, his eyes focused on the boomerang. "Oh, ho! So this is why the little picket has summoned me, you've taken her little toy!" He began laughing, making Raiden feel slightly silly for being so defensive.

"We're fighting, the Chunnin Exams remember?" Choko prompted, "I need it back."

"Of course you do, picket." Hogasha laughed, thrusting his arm forward. All of the Raiden's jumped back, one grabbing the boomerange at the last moment. If she needed it back bad enough to summon, then as long as he had it, there was still a chance. Another pincher was thrust towards them, one of the Raiden's was run straight though, gasping in surprise before disappearing. Soon Raiden was alone again, the boomerang clutched tightly in his hand.

"Ice Style: Glaciar Pen." Raiden yelled, shaking as he focused all of his chakra into the dome. Ice shot out of his hands, as he circled them, a blur. Hogasha, swiped at the ice, but Raiden responded by freezing his claws together and his feet to the ground. Choko bit her lip, watching as Raiden ran round and round until the dome was finished. Breathing heavily, he drank in the audiences' cheers, letting them drive him forward.

Choko materialized behind him, landing a solid kick in his spine, watching as he spun forward and crashed into the dome. Spider web like cracks decorated the ice where Raiden collided with it, Choko watched as he sat up, moaning as he rubbed the back of his head. Picking up her boomerang, Choko kept on smiling, raising her hand and looking at the proctor.

"I forfit." She said simply, giggling when Raiden stood up, gaping at her. Tsukifuyu's lips twitched upwards slightly, raising his hand he motioned to Raiden.

"The winner, Raiden Kiyomizu." The crowd was silent for a moment, muttering in confusion. Slowly a cheer started up as Choko walked over to Raiden and helped him up. He simply stared at her, behind him a Jonnin blew a ring of fire on his ice dome, melting it quickly for the next round.

"Thanks Hogasha!" Choko yelled, waving as her friend poofed away. She then turned to Raiden, her eyes closed and her head tilted to the side. "Congratulations!"

"What?" was the only thing that came out of Raiden's mouth.

* * *

><p>"She forfeited? But she had him!" Junki breathed out in disbelief, disappointed with the poor ending. Haruhi glanced at her, the bandage on her mostly healed wrist pressing tightly against her skin.<p>

"No she didn't, without her boomerang she's almost powerless, that and she was almost out of chakra, so she couldn't assist Hogasha in any way." Haruhi watched as Choko bounced up and down, Raiden following slowly behind her. "Choko's completely capable of being a master in Wind Jutsu, but for some reason, she refuses to learn anything that doesn't involve her boomerang."

* * *

><p>"Choko, why did you forfeit?" Raiden asked as they climbed the spiral stairs, passing a few civilians who praised Raiden's skill, and looked questioningly at Choko before complimenting her as well.<p>

"Oh, well you know how I said I thought of Haruhi as my big sister, well if I beat you that meant I would have to fight her eventually, and I don't want to fight my sister. I would also have to Imu next round if she won, and although I don't think we're sisters, I still like her like a cousin. I couldn't fight them, I'd just stand there and let me rip them to shreds if it came to it." Choko laughed, skipping up the stairs. "Do you have someone like that?"

Raiden instantly thought of everyone in the Cloud, the children running round screaming happily, dogs barking back and forth, the elderly men sitting around a shogi table, young couples staring romaticly into each others eyes,The Raikage, Dari, C, Bee, Yugito, and even the twins passed by his eyes. He swallowed thickly, he'd love to protect them all.

"Yeah, I guess I do." He answered quietly.

"Yeah, well good battle by the way, you're really strong, but please don't be upset when Imu throws you around like a ball!" Choko gave him a quick hug before tackling Haruhi from behind. Raiden watched curiously as Haruhi sighed, telling Choko she did well and patting her on the head affectionately.

* * *

><p>Turning away, Raiden quietly walked to the hospital wing, smiling slightly when he say Urami sitting up and talking with Amai. Both girls looked up when he entered, staring instead of scowling.<p>

"Glad to see your awake." Raiden nodded, walking over to them, leaning against the wall near Urami's bed. Amai simply nodded to him, while Urami snorted and turned back to her sister, the same as always.

Despite their normal discrimation against him, Raiden smiled. Yes, no matter how much they disliked him, he would always be there for them.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry, but no double battle because my dad came back from Afghanistan yesterday and leaves next week, so my updates might be a little slow until he's gone.<strong>

**Fun Fact: There are people in the USA, Australia, Taiwan, the Palestain Territories, France, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, Slovenia, Germany, Suriname, Czech Revar, Saint Kitts, Denmark, Romania, Argintena, Austia, Italy, Mexico, Sweden, Hong Kong, the Philippians, Colombia, and Japan! So where are you from, and tell me something about your home!**


	17. Deception

**Please read this all the way through.**

Hello everyone, first off I want to say that thank you so much for reading this, and that the next chapter will be up tonight. But before we can get to another round in the Chunnin Exams there are some other things that must be addressed.

First off, I am excited to say that ObeseOrange, who has given me invaluable advice, is willing to draw the characters! I'm excited beyond words to tell you how cool this is, since I can't draw to save the world, that there is someone actually willing to send their time drawing everyone! When ObeseOrange is done, links will be posted on my account so everyone may view them! She is going to be drawing Kenpu, Natsumi, Hakuro, Amai, Choko, Imu, and Haruhi, because seem to be the obvious favorites of this story! So creators of those characters please contact her.

Also for the sequal I need a two more characters! Characters may only be sumbimited by anyone who does not have a current character in the story, and if I do select you, I'll request ObeseOrange to draw your character in advance.

The final line of buieness is the one I really hate. I'm on the lookout for anyone making duplicate accounts to enter more than one character. I also have someone helping me look for these duplicate accounts who is very good at what she does, and has a good amount of experince.

If I find you are making duplicate accounts, not only will your character be eliminated from the story in a humiliating and obvious way, but you will be blocked. If you think about reporting my story, I welcome you to do it, I have already cleared my story to fit all guidelines with the help of TheRealGoodyTwoShoes and Lessthanthree-Carissa, who I owe a big thanks to.

So with that sour note lets end this note with a fun fact, eh?

**FunFact: Storm0Wolf is not an idiot**


	18. Junki vs Imu

"Well hello there, doll face!" Junki greeted her opponent, flashing her a smile. Imu rolled her eyes, flipping her purple hair behind her shoulder. "You plan on dropping out half way through like your friend? If so why not just forfeit now and save me and the good folks in the audience some time.

"Don't count on it, hun, I'm not weak like my partner was," Imu sneered, "Although, as weak as she is, she could have taken you."

"Don't be mean, Imu, you're going to make me cry!" Junki sniffed, a smile twitching on her lips. Imu growled, rolling her eyes and dropping into a Tai Jutsu stance, her blue eyes trained firmly on Junki.

"Byakugan!" Junki felt the veins in her eyes rise, everything became sharper, shades blacks and whites and blues. Imu's chakra flowed quickly and freely, centering in her stomach. Junki rushed forward hands in front of her. Imu turned to the side, bending her knees and elbowing Junki in the ribs. Staggering backwards, Junki raised a kunai sloppily deflecting Imu's assault.

Recovering, Junki began to tight run circles around Imu, making sure to stay close enough to see her chakra with her disgustingly limited range of twenty meters. Imu struggled to keep track of her, clouds of dust making it harder to distinguish Junki. Stopping suddenly, Junki turned sharply, double kicking Imu in the back, sending her flying forward.

Imu landed in a crouch, sliding back three feet as she stared venomously at the white eyed girl in front of her. Junki winked at her, and began rotating on her heels, chakra becoming visible as she spun. Moving forward, Junki's Rotation carved a deep trench behind her as she charged Imu.

"What's the matter, darling? Afriad of attacking me head on without your little shield?" Imu yelled, jumping over Junki and rolling, throwing shuriken as she jumped up. Bouncing harmlessly off, the shuriken fell to Junki's feet, clinking against the ground with a small sound.

Junki began to slow down, coming to a stop a moment later. She flashed Imu a smile throwing her hands on her hips. "Of course not, love! I just don't want blood on my shirt." she teased, jumping upwards, flipping and landing on the wall as a barradge of shuriken were throw at her. "And it looks like she wants to take a bite out of me!"

Imu rolled her eyes, bitting her thumb and slamming it on the wall, turning her head completely up to look at Junki's silhouette. "Summong Jutsu: Nest of the Cotton Mouth." A small poof of smoke hid her from the view of the audience, but Junki picked out her chakra easily, a small smile still glittering in her eyes.

"One, two, three, four, five. Five new chakras." Junki muttered to herself, flexing her wrist so her palm was facing upwards as she steadied herself into the correct stance for her next attack, her other arm straight and behind her. The crowd was attempting to lean over the railing, doing their best to see the candidate who was now standing on the wall, ten feet below them.

Five thin dark snakes slithered up the wall, fangs bared as they launched eagerly at Junki. They separated, two going to the right, two to the left, and one straight forward as they cornered their prey. Junki's eyes flashed, bringing her hand down, and sweeping her foot in front of her.

"Eight Trigrams: Thrity two palms." Juki began to let gravity take her, letting her body fall down and she spun. The wind threaded though her fingers, making her chakra tingle.

"Two palms!" The first snake was striked near the eye, blowing up in a poof of white smoke. "Four palms!" She jammed her hand into the body of the second snake, not bothering to watch as it fell to the ground, twitching as blood poured from its punctured eyes. "Eight Palms" the third snake has severed with three neat cuts, the fouth sent them spiraling to the ground, bouncing on the dirt. "Sixteen palms." The fouth snake jerked violently, bursting under the pressure, its guts and scales spraying on Junki's face and chest. "Thirty two palms!" The last snake exploded, it's guts falling near it's dead body. Landing elegantly with one hand on the ground, Junki propelled herself to the left, slamming into the wall as Imu's fist buried into her face. Bits of white rock spewed into the air, raining down on Imu harmlessly. Flipping her purple hair behind her, Imu formed quick hand signs, determained not to allow Junki a chance to recover.

"Snake arm Jutsu!" Her sleeves rustled, two dark snakes shot from her sleeves directly into the smoke, the crash from their impact startling the birds lounging on top of the stadium. The smoke rose, twisting and spinning in the wind, revealing Junki, pinned to the wall by the mouths of two large snakes. Their fangs dripped with extra vemon, poisoning Junki at the same time. Junki's head was down, her body completely immobilized.

The body disappeared, smoke entering the snakes mouth, making them hiss and thrash their heads against the walls.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms." Imu frowned, feeling a sharp sting in her back, she dropped to the ground, her arms not responding as she failed to block the next attack. Junki thrust her fingers into Imu's body, turning with each completed set of attacks. Pinned against the wall, Imu's vision blurred as her back connected with the wall repeatidly, falling limply forward when Junki's assult stopped. She fought to keep her eyes open, but as the rustic taste of blood filled her mouth, she gagged, passing out.

Junki stood over her, blood from the small snakes still dripping down her face. "Hehe, sorry doll face, but I win. Tsukifuyu darling," Junki waved to the proctor, "Imu is going to be taking her beauty rest for the rest of the day, see to it that she is given a comfortable place to rest her pretty little head."

"Damn brat." Tsukifuyu spat at her, motioning to the medics, raising his hand he declared the winner. "The winner, Junki Hyuuga." The crowd roared, exploading into screams and yells when Junki began bowing, blowing kisses to the Gennin booth, smirking when Itachi rolled his eyes at her, whispering her actions to Hibiki, who smiled and shook his head. "Hey, you!" Tsukifuyu snapped at her, "Get the hell out of my arena!"

"Why and here I was thinking that we had graduated to a using first names instead of pronouns." Junki mocked, spinning on her heels and strutting up towards the entrance to the staircase.

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><p><strong>Well next chapter will be up soon! Make sure to read "Deception" and contact ObeseOrange so she can draw your character. The funfact is in "Deception" as well, you guys are not getting doubles! I'm running out of them anyways!<strong>


	19. Hakuro vs Amai

The two girls stepped forward, staring each other down, Hakuro offered her hand first, and winced when she felt Amai's cold grip. "Begin!"

Hakuro wasted no time closing the remaining space in between them, chucking three shuriken haphazardly and sliding forward, she ducked under Amai's kick. She knew for a fact that Amai would try and get some distance between them before using any of her Jutsu, so the best plan was to keep on the offensive and force Amai into a hand to hand fight.

Twisting her body to the side, Hakuro flipped onto her hands, propelling herself backwards and shoving her feet into Amai's chest. Her feet blurred forward as she followed Amai, not giving her a second to recover as she began her assault of kicks and punches. Unable to counterattack, Amai blocked each attack with matched vigor, bringing her own foot up she kicked Hakuro in the shin. Her leg throbbed, but Hakuro kept up her attack, fist connecting with Amai's stomach.

She doubled over cascading to her knees as salmon eyes closed tightly, nevertheless a smirk formed on Amai's lips. Above her Hakuro was panting, slightly winded from the nonstop attack. The specters shouted praise at Hakuro and support for Amai to stand up.

"Fool," Amai whispered, looking up at Hakuro she flashed her a smile, yanking an invisible thread tight. The wire zoomed around Hakuro's hands binding them together. Amai swung her foot under Hakuro forcing her to drop to the ground. There was a loud popping sound as the Hakuro's body disappeared and a shuriken, one Haruko had thrown earlier, laid tangled in the wire instead. Amai's face remained passive as she watched Hakuro appear twenty meters away from her.

Amai's hands flew, hand signs quickly coming together in a familiar sequence. She had known that Hakuro would use those three shuriken for replacement, they had been thrown carelessly and in opposite sides of the arena. It would have been impossible for her to beat Hakuro in a hand to hand combat match, so she trapped Hakuro with the wire, forcing her to take a serious hit or to use the shuriken to escape. It was the perfect way to get enough room between them to activate her Jutsu.

"Voice Style: Sonic Throat!" Amai jumped into the air, black hair covering the sun. Hakuro squinted upwards, shifting her weight backwards, poised to dodge. The air around Amai vibrated as she landed on the top of the wall, hair whipping at her face messily in the fierce wind. She pursued her lips together and whistled. The ground near Hakuro's feet exploded, rocks and grass flying up and pelting her body, her body flew through the air, crashing into the wall.

"Why's she using that, I thought she was going to save it for th

* * *

><p>e later rounds?" Raiden turned on Urami grey eyes flashing as he crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't worry about the other teams hearing him, after all, he doubted that their abilities were a secret anymore. None of these guys were idiots and probably studied up on the Yoshida clan before the exam.<p>

"She has a score to settle with Hakuro remember, their match in the cave never officially ended." Urami's pink eyes concentrated on the match as Hakuro struggled to stand up, blood flowing down her arms in small streams. It was an idiotic move to use her hands to protect her face like that, instinctive, but stupid.

"What do you mean never officially ended, Hakuro was knocked out, Amai won." Raiden raised his eyebrow. Amai jumped down, firing blast after blast at Hakuro as she hung in the air. Large brown clouds mounted the sky, hugging each other tightly and making it impossible to see Hakuro.

"Come now Raiden, you have to know by now that to Amai, knocking someon unconscious is not considered beating them." Urami smirked when Raiden's eyes opened, his fist clutching the rail a bit tighter.

"God, she's going to kill her."

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><p>The smoke parted a bit, Amai strolled forward, stepping over chunks of uprooted grass and plaster. Her aim had been dead on, the ten foot deep holes the size of jars forced into the earth all centered on a similar area. Pink eyes surveyed the area slowly, not daring to miss anything.<p>

Four metal balls zoomed out of the smoke, falling in an a neat square around the confused Amai. The shuddered slightly rising shakily into the sky, slowly rotating. Hakuro jumped out of the smoke, green eyes darkening in the glare of the sun. Her hands flipped quickly though signs, her dirty blond hair flying wildly around her.

"Lightning Style: Paralyzing Sphere!" The balls were blurring into a single grey ring around Amai, static crackling as they charged up. Lines of blue lightning shot out violently from all directions, centering on Amai. Her body twisted, stuggling to stand, Amai felt her muscles lock up, unresponsive to her commands.

Hakuro smiled a bit in relief, so it had worked after all. She had created this trap based on her past battle with Amai. By paralyzing Amai, even if only temporarily, Hakuro gave herself enough time to move in and work her Tai Jutsu, handing the final blow within seconds of the first.

Her feet patted on the ground as she moved quickly forward, hands pumping by her sides. Slidding under the four metal balls, she dodged the shots of lightning with awe inspiring agility and speed. The crowd gasped, pumping their fist into the air when Hakuro landed the first blow, round house kicking Amai in the stomach, hard.

Her body lifted a bit into the air, Amai's feet barely grazed the grassy surface of the floor when the next attack, a combination of punches and palm strikes, threw her body straight into the air. The metal ring rose with her, beginning to buzz as they spun faster.

Amai let out a small groan of pain. The combination of Hakuro's attacks and the numbness caused by the electricy shocking her was deeply unpleasant. She could do nothing but wait for the attack to finish, and closed her eyes when Hakuro's frowning face was above her, leg straight up. Hakruo brought down her leg with every ounch of power she could, adding chakra to make up for whatever she lacked.

The ground burst into smoke, rocks and rubble flying awkwardly in all directions, making a loud rhymatic pattern similar to rain hitting a window as they landed. The metal marbles stopped spinning, falling harmlessly to the ground. Hakuro put both hands on the ground as she landed, slowly raising, but put all her weight on her back leg just in case Amai somehow managed to survive the assult.

Seven shurikin spun through the air, curving beautifly as they carved into Hakuro's clothing, nicking her pale skin. Green eyes widening, Hakuro leapt back, dropping into a defensive stance with a kunai held parallel to her chest.

A black mass zoomed out of the smoke, feet hitting the ground loudly as Amai's pink eyes filled with rage. "Voice Style: Nature's Note." Amai let out a soft hum, letting it harmonize with the wind and birds. Hakuro felt the air around her shift, the air becoming heavy. A thick vine emerged from the ground, coiling itself around her leg and up her waist, holding her firmly in place.

Amai kicked her in her face, growling when Hakuro grabbed her ankle. Twisting her body upwards, she slammed her other foot down on Hakuro's head, almost crying out when she grabbed that foot as well, turning her body, Hakuro slammed Amai onto the ground, the vines tighting painfully on her leg.

For right now all Hakuro could do was block, she would have to give her chakra a minute to recover from that lightning trap. This was the main reason why she stuck to Tai Jutsu, her chakra levels were too low for any Nin or Gen Jutsu specialty, but she was limber and quick, Tai Jutsu came easy to her.

Amai spun on her back, legs flying out as on brushed against Hakuro's shin, making her yelp and stumble. Flipping back, Amai's hands began to form signs, pink eyes flashing when she was done.

"Voice Style: Sonic Throat!" The air around Amai shifted again, shuddering slightly as she whistled. The ground Hakuro was standing on popped open, the vine holding her in place. Her skin was pounded brutally by the air, cloths ripping, hair whipping her face hard enough to draw blood. Hakuro's head became light as the pain became unbareable, and she dropped to the ground, blood flowing from her ears.

"That's enough," Tsukifuyu called, eyes narrowing when Amai ignored him, increasing the intensity of her attack.

Tsukifuyu materialzed behind Amai, clamping a hand over her mouth and holding her arms behind her back, easily stopping her attack. Glaring down at her he considered disqualifying her for disobeying him, but decided that the booing crowd wouldn't be worth it.

The medics rushed over to Hakuro, lifting her limp body carefully on to the stretcher. Amai yanked away from Tsukifuyu ,glared at him, and disappeared, reappearing by her sister's bed seconds later.

* * *

><p>"I won, Urami." She said bluntly, purposely ignoring Raiden. He still nodded to her, grinning slightly. Urami gasped and hugged her sister tightly, retracting the moment Amai screamed. Amai clutched her ribs, a tear escaping her began gasping, her face paling as she fell over, holding herself in the fetal position as she began to cough up blood.<p>

"Medic!" Raiden yelled, running to the door and looking in the hallway. A tall older man strode in, looking slightly relived when he saw Amai curled up on the floor.

"She's in here!" He called out, three men instantly coming to him, streatcher folded neatly between them. They rushed to her, lifting her up and ushering her out of the room.

"What's happened? What the hell's wrong with my sister!" Urami shrieked, throwing the sheet s ot the floor and attemping to stand up. Her knees buckled, falling forward Raiden caught her, wrapping his arms under around her waist. He coaxed her back into the bed, walking around the bed to remove the sheets from the floor and fold them neatly on the foot of her bed.

"We're not entirely sure, but we think she's got a punctured lung, three fractured ribs, a hairline fracture in her arm and possibly a concussion. When that girl, Hakuro, did that Paralizing Jutsu of hers it made Amai's body slightly more fragile than normal. So whenever Hakuro hit her from then on, including the attack when she slammed Amai to the ground, Amai's body was taking extensive damage. If it wasn't for the weird adrenaline rush she was getting, she would have collapsed then and there." the man explained quickly, then ran out of the room to assist his comrades, leaving a wet eyed Urami with a somber Raiden.

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><p><strong>Hi everyone! Guess what? ObeseOrange has posted three of the character's pictures, and the link is on my account, so go, go see them! She's amazing and everything is hand drawn too! And just so you know, I have no control over what order she does them and I don't know when she'll be done, but I'll let you guys know as soon as she is!<strong>

**Fun Fact: Right after Hibiki and Kenpu's battle their will be a short intermission where the characters can ask, me, the author any question what so ever! They can ask me why I chose them over the many other submission I got, or about the sequal or whatever! **

**So everyone with a character please send in your question! You can ask anywere from 1-4! Anything at all, you can even ask me the color of my room!**


	20. Kenpu vs Hibiki

Hibiki felt the millions of chakras surging around him, some were stronger than others, pressing roughly against his own. He took a deep breath, pulling his chakra in so it only cover the battle portion of the stadium, trying to map out what everything was in his mind. Trees and grass as a more gentle chakra then the sement walls and ground.

Tsukifuyu's eyes glazed over the two boys, raising his hand in the air, commanding complete silence. "Begin!"

Neither moved, the breeze floating though their hair, making their cloths rise a bit. Kenpu kept his hands in his pockets, his fingers grazing over a kunai as he waited for the attack. This would be easy, the kid was blind after all. He knew that he should just give the Hibiki a chance to back down, but then stopped, after all he couldn't have made it this far if he couldn't hold his own.

"It must be hard, being blind and all." Kenpu began, bringing the kunai from his pocket. A flash of silver whizzed towards him, piercing the back of his hand and exiting his though his palm. Kenpu only smirked, pulling the senbon easily, it felt akward as it slid though his muscel and bones, making a slight popping noise when it was all the way out. The smallest trickle of blood flowed out of the wound.

"Don't start that." Hibiki sighed, holding three abnormally thick senbon between his fingers, their chilling texture giving him slight comfort. He figured that's how the battle would start, and didn't plan on listening to another idiot question his abilities.

Kenpu smirked, his green and blue eyes focusing entirely on Hibiki as he dropped the red senbon. Kenpu's hands came together, his body morphing in the wind, popping into an arrange of colors, fireworks. Hibiki felt his heart knock against his chest, it was obviously a Gen Jutsu, after a month of practicing with Itachi spotting simple Gen Jutsu came easy to him, it was breaking them that was the problem.

His senses became blury as he chakra began to shake. His skin felt cold, the air thin, and his feet became damp. He guessed he was in some kind of room, with a low ceiling due to the echos of the water, and a lack of exits that caused the thin air. Hibiki closed his unsighted eyes, putting his hands together as he concentrated. He heard water, sloshing around as a vile smell assaulted his nose, almost making him gag. It was obvious that he was targeting everything he could to keep Hibiki under his spell. The water rose, his entire lower body was submerged in the foul smelling liquid.

"Release!" Hibiki felt the water rise, only this time in small droplets as if it was evaporating. The air became normal again, the crowds roars ringing in his ears. Dropping to his knees Hibiki coughed violently, his entire body shaking as he tried to recover. The rocks dug into his knees making it unpleasant to sit, but he was to winded to stand.

Kenpu waited a moment, his green and blue eyes peaking cautiously under his bangs, not daring to move forward. "You should be honored; I created that Jutsu specifically for you." Kenpu commented, slowly walking forwards. Hibiki was still, listening to the light crunch of the gravel under the boy's sandles. "I know that you have to rely on you hearing, smelling, and touch to get around, so if I could stun those, it would throw you off. And it worked, look at you, on your kness and I haven't even used up half my chakra yet."

"You really think so," Hibiki weezed, tilting his head to the side and his eyes snapped open, their hazy grey reflecting the four three pointed senbon he had thrown at Kenpu.

Kenpu scoffed, simple side stepping the attack, frowing at his own stupidy. Hibiki was using his voice to tell where he was, fine then, he simply wouldn't talk. Kenpu fired three shuriken at Hibiki, mismatched eyes tracking him as Hibiki flung himself into the air, twisting beautifully before landing lightly on his feet.

"You really think that I get around with my senses alone?" Hibiki asked, quirking an eye brow as he pulled an average sized senbon from his pouch. Staying silent, Kenpu rushed forward, bringing his leg up towards Hibiki's neck. Turning his body to the side, Hibiki brought up his arm, blocking the kick and grabbed onto Kenpu's elbow, pulling him down as he kneed him in the stomach. Kenpu grunted, reaching behind him with his non dominate hand and pulling a kunai from his trench coat, slicing Hibiki's stomach. The brown fabric tore in a neat line, the blade dragging against his skin. Hibiki bit his lip, releasing Kenpu and staggering backwards, regained his footing and jumped until he was near the wall.

His stomach burned, placing a hand over the wound, Hibiki breathed in deeply, his hands glowing green. Kenpu straighted out his back, closed his eyes, rolling his neck before he performed a set of hand signs, eyes trained firmly on Hibiki.

"Water Clone Jutsu!" Water began to swirl in little balls in the sky, making the air dry and uncomfratable. A second Kenpu formed, three feet away and leaning forward, ready to attack. "So you're a medic nin too, huh?"

"No," Hibiki grunted, removing his hand. A thin pink scar emerged agrily from his skin, slightly higher than the surrounding area. "The Leaf trains their students to know enough of the basics to at least heal minor things such as a cut. I just actually paid attention during that lesson."

"Well then, it seems the Leaf isn't as stupid as it's Gennin, they should have taught you to run away the moment you saw the Mist symbol." Kenpu snapped.

Hibiki's eye brow twitched slightly and he pointed to his eyes, "I can't see anything, you twit. Not that I'd want to see you're pathetic village." Hibiki pulled a single senbon from his pouch and fired it at Kenpu's clone. The clone jumped, spinning to the side and running forward. Hibiki brought his arm up to block, then heard, what was to his ears, a loud sizzling, and cursed.

Itachi watched from above, Sharingan activated, as Hibiki went up in smoke.

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><p>"He just blew up his own water clone!" Junki grabbed onto Itachi, her pale eyes searching though the large smoke and dirt cloud that covered the western wall of the arena. When Itachi said nothing, she looked at him. "Oh come on Itachi! Did you just copy that?"<p>

"No."

"You're the hottest lying Uchiha I've ever met."

"And you're the most flirtatious Hyuuga I've ever had the displease of associating with."

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><p>Kenpu waited, a small smirk evident on his face. Standing up straight her put his hands in his trench coat, tilting his head down as the plaster and earth rained down on his head. "It looks like I win. It's to bad, he was really tale…." Kenpu choked, and collapsed, his chest hurt as began coughing. He saw double as the world turned a mixture of yellows and greens.<p>

Hibiki jumped down from the wall, calmly walking over to Kenpu and crouched down next to him. "Guess the blind kid wasn't so easy to beat now was he?" Hibiki whispered, twirling a senbon in his hand.

"Impossible….you should be dead." Kenpu struggled to talk, scrunching his eyes together.

"Yeah, well substations come in real handy with stuff like that. By the way, you should never take you're eyes off your enemy. The moment you closed your eyes right before creating the shadow clone, I used a substation to get away. You attached the explosive tag on the clones back, but tags have chakra, so it was easy for me to sense it, even before I knew what you were planning." Hibiki continued, standing up and taking a step back.

"I don't…understand, you can't see, how could you have known…."

"I'm a sensor, duh. My chakra are my eyes and it's far more efficient than yours." Hibiki folded his arms across his chest, watching as the medics crowded around Kenpu, carting him away quickly. Hibiki slipped a vile into the pocket of one of the medics, heading back to the waiting area as Tsukifuyu announced the winner.

"Winner, Hibiki Dozuko"

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><p>"Wait, Haruhi I don't get it what happened. He just dropped dead like that!" Choko was leaning dangerously far over the edge, but it didn't matter, she was a ninja after all. Haruhi had been wondering the same thing, her red hair falling over her shoulder again.<p>

"Posion perhaps?" She mumbled, startled when a voice snuck up behind her.

"Yes, and one of his slower acting ones from the looks of it." Itachi answered, eyes now a coal black, they burned into her cool blue eyes.

"But when did he…" Haruhi trailed off, replaying the battle over and over in her mind, her eyes widening, "From the beginning, when the first senbon pierced Kenpu's hand."

Itachi nodded, simply turning around to walk back to Junki, who was now talking to a very excited Choko. "Yes."

"But why didn't he just take him out then? Why wait until the end of the battle?" Haruhi pressed, this time more to herself, Itachi shrugged, looking upwards.

"I belive he simply wanted to give Kenpu the chance to show the Kage what he was capable of."

"That's noble, in a stupid and confusing way." She commented, watching as the blind boy reentered the room, being tackled by Junki who laughed and roughed up his hair. Haruhi watched as Itachi pulled her off of Hibiki, separating the two by tossing them to separate sides of the room. If only she hadn't been so stupid, she may have been on that team instead of Junki.

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><p><strong>Hi! Guess what, Hakuro, Natsumi, and Kenpu have all been posted and are on my profile, thank you ObeseOrange! So excited, also I want to thank everyone for helping me achive 100+ reviews, I never actually imagined I would get that many, and it's only what…the eighteenth chapter? I just feel amazing, and so a big round of applause to you all! Also if your characters haven't sent in a question, please do so soon, I want the next chapter up by Wensday morning latest.<strong>

**Fun Fact: When Itachi watched Kenpu blow up his water clone he copied it, using it during his fight with Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi later in the series!**

**I have to admit I had a lot of fun with this chapter. **


	21. Counting the Votes

"There's been news from the Feudal lord of Rice Country." Tsukifuyu stood in a high ceiling room with his wife, Hihi and the second proctor of the exams. They stood, heads high but eyes humble, before four of the five kage. The Feudal Lord had departed soon after his welcoming speech, returing to the capital to handle his affairs in a safe place.

"It seems that war has been declared on the Rice Country, by a large milita run by some power house who refuses to give out a name, but word in the black market says it may be Orochimaru." Hihi examined her fingernails carefully. Tsukifuyu was one of the only Shinobi in the world with double loyalties. He served the Rice Country faithfully, but he served herself and his wife a bit better, after all the black market paid a lot more for the head of someone in the bingo book compared to the Feudal Lords.

Hihi's husband of two and a half years, Tsukifuyu, was one of her past targets. She resisted a small smile, it was the classic assassin falls in love with her target story. Very dramatic, only theirs involved toppeling a few drug lords on the way, and turning her bad boy into a humble village Shinobi. Some times she thought that was the reason for his grouchiness towards others, after all who wouldn't be happy to go from leader of one of the strongest rebel organizations in the world to the pathetic guard dog to a spoiled lord?

"The Feudal Lord has asked us to share our plans with you, so there isn't any confusion on who we're attacking, and hopefully some alliances will be made in the process." Hihi stared directly at the Hokage, he was their main priority.

The gathered shinobi, lords, and four Kage all stood sporadically around the room, eyes curiously eyeing each other. At the name of the snake Sannin, the room was filled with excited and fearful whispers, stories of the man spinning viciously through the room.

The Mizukage raised his hand, silence befalling the gathered men and women when he spoke. "And why does this call for the end of the Chunnin exams, Orochimaru has no chance against the gathered Shinobi forces. That's why he's not attacking, he's waiting for the end to launch his attack. By telling us all to leave will only speed this up."

"Yes, but the longer we wait the more control he gains over his followers, and the more people will follow him. The Feudal Lord wants to nip this in the butt before it get's out of hand," Tsukifuyu grunted, pulling a scroll from his belt, he spread it out over the table, many of the gathered leaning forward to see it. It was a map of the Rice Country, with little pieces of the surrounding nations peaking near the edges of the paper.

"The purple Xs mark the area's were Orochimaru has been said to have spotted, and the purple circles are the area's were we have tracked the rebel army." Hihi pointed out each area with her finger, hovering slightly over the circle on the border. "And the green Xs mark the area's where Shinobi towns are set up. For now, each town will be taken over by a high ranking Jonnin selected by the Feudal Lord,"

"Depending on who is in charge of the town along the border of the Fire and Rice country, the Leaf Village may send reenforcements to assist you, but the Rice Country will have to set up a ninja village eventually if they want to be able to make stable military relationships." The Third Hokage announced, the four Anbu behind him nodding in agreement.

"We realize that, and plans for the Village are being made now. And as for the town's leader, Tsukifuyu and I shall be sharing the burden." Hihi nodded, rerolling the scroll and handing it back to Tsukifuyu. "Now, since the Chunnin Exams must come to a close immidently, I suggest we judge who will graduate based on what we've seen. Every Gennin has had a chance to show their ability."

"That sounds fine to me, the sooner I get our Gennin up in the ranks and out of this third rate country the better." A mist Anbu mumbled, pale yellow hair falling slowly to the floor as a kunai buried into the wall behind him, a lock of his hair gone. Tsukifuyu twirled another kunai in his hand, glaring bitterly.

"Your right about one thing, the sooner you get your bratty kids out of here the better, but if you insult my country again I'll nail you to a tree and see how much you like it when your hanging upside down above a snake pit." Tsukifuyu spat, eyes flashing as he stared the Anbu down.

"Alright alright, that's enough, Mizukage control your Anbu." The Raikage laughed, the Anbu around him unmoving but their chakra was sharp as they felt the blood lust rolling off of Tsukifuyu.

"Well then," Hihi interrupted, placing her hand on Tsukifuyu's shoulder. "Here are the score cards. Only the Lords, Kage, and I will vote for our top eight. The votes will then be counted up and revealed tomorrow." She handed the small sheets out, eleven in total. Filling out her own one quickly she placed it in a box Tsukifuyu was holding, the others going in behind hers.

"On behalf of the Feudal Lord of the Rice Country we thank you for you flexablity and cooperation. We hope to see you all again in the future, as friends and allies." Hihi bowed at her waist, pulling Tsukifuyu to do the same.

* * *

><p>"Are you almost done?" Hihi leaned against Tsukifuyu's back, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her chin on his shoulder on his head. He sat stiffly against leaning over the desk, the flicker of the electic lights playing against his stern face.<p>

"Yeah, got to admit, I'm surprised at some of these, never thought some of them would be selected." He yawned, reaching behind him and pulling her into his lap. "But never thought I'd be a tamed Shinobi tied down with a village and a wife."

"Hm, well yeah, I've got that life changing effect on people." She chuckled, kissing on him on the forehead. Standing up she wrote down the names on the official list, and placed it in a wheat colored envelope.

Tomorrow would be the day, Hihi sighed, the sooner the Chunnin exams were over the sooner she went to war. How she hated her life, but looking over at Tsukifuyu she chuckled, he would be much more miserable than she was.

"They'll get the shock of their lives that 's for sure." She mumbled remembering the names of the Gennin, oh yeah, it was defiantly a surprise.

* * *

><p>"I don't belive this! They're seriously going to cancel the next rounds, after we've came this far!" Junki whined, letting her head fall into a overly soft pillow. The hotel they were staying at wasn't fancy, but it was rather comfortable. Itachi and Hibiki shared a connecting room with Junki, each room stocked with plush futons, a medium sized television, bathroom and had a balcony looking down at the busy street.<p>

"Not like you would have made it much further." Hibiki yawned, grunting when one of the pillows was thrown at his stomach. Itachi rolled his eyes at them, catching one in mid air, he smiled lightly, throwing it back at Junki. Hibiki let out a laugh as it hit her square in the face, making her fall back.

A sharp knock was heard on the door and they were all silence. Hibiki stayed still, Junki looked directly at Itachi, her brown pixie cut slightly tangled from the mini pillow war. Itachi sighed again, using his knees to push himself upwards. Quickly shuffling to the door, he was tackled by a blue and black mass. Sasuke threw himself into Itachi's arm, feeling Itachi's arms wrap around him instantly. Shisui laughed, teleporting himself into the middle of the room, his black eyes surveying the carnage of the battle with high amusement.

"Nii-san! That was awesome; I can't wait until I get to fight in the Chunnin exams." Sasuke grinned broadly, hugging his brother tightly in his small arms. Itachi smiled lightly, detaching himself from Sasuke and closing the door quickly.

"You know Sasuke, I don't understand how you're so adorable, cute, and sweet and your brother is so stiff, cold, and has premature wrinkles." Junki ran over and swung Sasuke off his feet, patting him on the head.

"Hellow, Junki." He said quietly, slightly hiding behind his brother as the slightly insane girl cooed at him, while Itachi, left eye twitching slightly, sat down near Hibiki, who was involved in a heated discussion with Shisui.

"There is no way that you've never had sweet anko dango before! It's just not possible you're from the Leaf village!" Shisui looked slightly disgusted, legs crossed under him and arms crossed over his chest. Hibiki scoffed, sitting up slightly.

"What's your point?" Hibiki frowned, he really didn't understand the big problem. He didn't eat anko simply because he didn't buy any, and almost all of the money he earned from missions went into his mother's hospital bill. Anything left over was for weapon supplies.

"My point is that the Leaf is basicly know for our awesome Dango shops! Plus Itachi is overly obsessed with dango, there is no way you've been on his team and not gone to one!" Shisui turned to glare at his young cousin, as this poor kids deprivation was entirely his fault.

"This conversation is completely unnecessary, Shisui if it pleases you I will take Hibiki to get some dango the moment we return." Itachi rubbed his temples in irritation, honestly which one of them was older?

"Yeah, for celebration!" Junki cheered, pulling Sasuke towards the group, resisting her girly urge to squeal at the too cute to be legal child.

"Junki, I don't understand why you're cheering, I highly doubt you will become a Chunnin after your less than satisfactiory battle." Hibiki ducked when another pillow rocketed over his head, and turned his face to Sasuke. "This Sasuke, is a good example of a ninja who has failed in every aspect of life. She can't even throw a pillow straight."

"Hibiki, don't be so mean, or I'll leave you for Itachi. He may be emotionally constipated, old looking, stern, and scare little children but at least he treats me right!" Junki latched onto Itachi's arm, copying the look she had seen many females give him back in the leaf village, her tone mocking. Hibiki and Shisui fell over laughing, while Sasuke, slightly confused simply smiled. All the while Itachi just sat there, eyebrow twitching.

* * *

><p><strong>Dude I swear this heat is intense. It's so hot down here that the place that controls all the internet crap overheated and all the cabels and stuff shut down so I'm writing this on Tuesday night, I wonder how long until they fix the internet and I can post this. Well until then I'm going to keep writing so I can get a bit ahead.<strong>

**Fun Fact: All of the people who voted represented you guys. Only eleven people voted in the real world so only eleven people voted in the story, so whoever is chosen was chosen by you guys! So if whoever you wanted to graduate didn't, don't blame me, blame your fellow readers! The order they are placed in is also dictated by your votes.**

**It's been a while since I've wrote a chapter that didn't have any fighting in it, so it was a bit weird and may take me a second to get back into it. It's Thursday now, so it took them two days to get my internet back, that's pretty fast. Next two chapters have already been written so one should be up Friday and the next one not until. Can't start spoiling you guys to much can i?**


	22. Gratuation Ceremory

"Alright brats, line up by village, first the Cloud, Mist, Leaf, then Sand. Hurry up, I don't want to keep everyone waiting because you guys are too stupid to line yourselves up." Tsukifuyu held a clip board in front of him, the arena free of any damange inflicted on it the day earlier. The Gennin quickly moved around, all their heads held high and backs straight as they looked up at the crowd. The judges stood behind Tsukifuyu, Hihi smirking at them.

Each felt vibrations well in their stomach, a sickly feeling consuming them as they waited patiently for the graduation ceremony to begin. All of them wanted to become Chunnin, but the sad fact was that only eight of them could. The wind blew at their clothes, the sweet touch of the cool air making a few of them shiver.

"Welcome everyone to the Graduation ceremony, were eight of these twelve Gennin will become Chunnin, and the others, well they just suck." Tsukifuyu announced, feeling a wave of annoyed and angry chakra from the Gennin behind him. "Let the ceremony begin!"

The crowd clapped, far less excited than the day before as they stared down at the Gennin. Natsumi stood tall beside her teammates, her torso tightly wrapped with itchy white bandages, the skin underneath still healing from the sever burn. Haruhi's hand was in a grey brace, her bones would take many months to heal, not including the physical therapy she would need. Inside she was slightly grateful she wouldn't have to fight again. Choko was bouncing at her side, smiling brightly at everyone. Hakuro's entire body was on fire, she shouldn't have been out of the hospital for at least another week, but she refused to miss this.

The sun glared down at them, their skin stinging in the direct rays. Cloudless, the sky overhead held a faint outline of the moon to the west, as if it had come out just to watch them. Dragonflies darted back and forth lazily across the field, a frog jumping up and twirling its tongue round an unfortunate orange one, pulling it in it's mouth quickly.

"Congratulations, this Gennin was elected by every judge, Itachi Uchiha." The crowd jumped up, the normally emotionless Uchiha clan jumping up and down, their cries of praise traveling across the field, into Itachi's ears. He stepped forward and fell to both knees, head down with his hands on the ground as he bowed to the audience, keeping that pose as he waited for the other names to be called. He couldn't even sum up his feelings; relief and pride, happiness and excitement. This made him the Gennin of the year, the best.

"Step forward, Hibiki Donzuko." Tsukifuyu yelled, looking at the boy out of the cornor of his eyes he watched the boy fall to his knees next to his partner in a similar pose. Hibiki fought to keep the disbelieving tears in his eyes. He never thought, dreamed that he would be the second best Gennin here. To know that he had proven himself, to some of the strongest Shinobi in the world was far more than he hoped. His father was wrong, Hibiki realized with a smile, even a liability like him could amount to something.

"Step forward, Kenpu!" Kenpu smirked as he strode forward, falling to his knees, not in submission but in promise. He promised that he would avenge Kiken, that he would protect the Mist, and that he would become the best. This was only step one of many, and it only reinforced in his mind that it was possible, just in his reach.

"Step forward, Natsumi." Painstakingly, Natsumi moved forward with as much grace as she could with out moving her torso, kneeling down she peeked at the boys kneeling down beside her, and smiled, these were the best of her generation, and she was one of them. She was the best female here, the strongest, and she wouldn't let that title slip away from her any time soon.

"Step forward, Amai Yoshida!" Amai released her sister's hand, floating over to her spot near Natsumi and kneeled down slowly, savoring this moment. She was one step closer to taking back her clan, that much stronger. Soon she would be ready, and silently she thanked everyone who helped her get here, including Hakuro, who she battled twice and silently respected. Hakuro had taught her that she could never stop training, or someone you least expected may come up and destroy you.

"Step forward, Junki!" Junki flashed the crowd a smile, winking at Tsukifuyu and Hihi before falling dramatically to her knees before the crowd. She may not have been as strong as Itachi or Hibiki but she was pretty dang close. Junki felt relief surge in her body, if she had failed she would forfeit her place in the clan and be branded as a branch member. Smirking she almost felt the glare of some of the elders on her crouched figure; they must have lost quiet of bit of cash betting against her.

"Step forward, Haruhi." Stiffly she walked towards the others, quickly kneeling down and closing her eyes. She had no doubt in her mind that she would pass, but actually hearing it out loud hit her, making her resist a small drop that wanted to escape her eyes. She may have made a terrible mistake in the past that almost lead to the distruction of her home village, but she swore that she would become strong enough to protect her new home.

"These are the chosen Gennin, the ones chosen by the Lords, Kages, and Special Jonnin behind me. They have proven themselves to be intelligent, masters of their Jutsu, and ready to take on the role of a leader." Tsukifuyu tried his hardest to be heard over the estatic crowd, but still doubted that his speech was heard.

Choko felt nothing but happiness for her teammates, slightly shuffling her feet in an attempt not to bounch over and hug them. Ranks had no meaning to her, she had seen many scenarios where a Gennin could kill a Special Jonnin.

Shell shocked Raiden stood, fist clenched at his side and his face darkened, hiding his expression. How could he have failed, after coming so far. Glancing back at the Raikage, he saw the smirk on his lips, a gesture for Raiden not to worry. Having faith in his leader, Raiden loosened his clenched hands, a small line of blood dripping out.

Hakuro stood, smiling sadly as she looked at her two friends. Honestly she was glad to have made it this far, but not being chosen to graduate was a bit upsetting. A smile twitched upon her lips, there would always be next year.

Looking down at her twin with pride, Urami felt no anger, disappointment, or sadness. Amai had passed, and that was all that was required. As the future head of the clan, Amai had to excel at everything, while she, a soon to be member of the side branch, only had to protect her sister and make sure she excelled at whatever she was doing. That was her purpose, her reason for being born Amai's twin, and she accepted it willingly.

The chosen eight stood up, perfectly in sync and faced the Kages, lords, and Special Jonnin. Bowing at their waist, they turned to the audience and bowed again. Tsukifuyu dismissed them, the crowd filing outside and surrounding the gate, hoping to see a little of the young Gennin and newly made Chunnin as they exited the stage.

* * *

><p>"Ha, on a single battle that Hibiki boy brought me in 77 million ryo! I told you, betting on the long shot would work out in the end." The young women laughed, a check for the spoken account clutched tightly in her freshly manicured hand. The plump man grumbled to himself, almost wanting to smack himself for not betting on the Uchiha. The group walked out of the village quickly, some angry at their large loss and the others extremely happy with their new fortune.<p>

* * *

><p>"I can't belive they didn't select that boy from the Cloud, it doesn't make any sense!" someone in the crowd whispered to her companion as they shuffled slowly down the stairs, the large mass of bodies around them making it uncomfortable warm.<p>

"I know, in fact I was surprised that Hibiki boy was chosen. I thought for sure that Raiden would have been the runner up, if not the best. What do you think the Kages were thinking?" Her boyfriend answered, wrapping his arm around her shoulders so they wouldn't be separated.

"Who knows, they may all be insanely powerful, but they don't seem all that bright."

* * *

><p>"I would love to see that Natsumi girl and Choko go head to head. Imagine a sword verses a boomerang, one has distance, one as close range, now that would be an interesting battle." One boy chuckled, sitting on top of a roof as he and his gang waited anxiously to see if they might have a chance to spot the participants.<p>

"Heck yeah, but wouldn't it be cool if they teamed up and went against the twins? Now that would be a serious battle! But I'd have to put my money on the twins, they're hot!"

"Idiot! Being hot has nothing to do with winning!" the leader smacked him on the head, earning a round of approving laughs from his followers.

* * *

><p>"Itachi! Can I have your autograph!" A squiling group of kids circled him, their eyes wide as they shoved a note pad with his Sharingan on it and a sword shaped pen in his face.<p>

"Well.." He began, a strong arm pulling him around and he was faced with three giggling girls that were around his age. Two of them had Stone head bands, while the other had a Rain tattoo on her upper left shoulder.

"No, no, over here Itachi, sign my weapon's pouch!" The boldest one demanded, the ones by her side pouting slightly as their eyes glossed over with tears.

"I suppose…" Again he was yanked the other way, his annoyance growing as he tried to contain his frustration. Hibiki and Junki had abandon him, standing safely outside the ring of people, observing him with gloating smirks.

"Itachi Uchiha, may I have an interview? Rookie of the year, man this would make my boss so happy, I might get a raise." White light blinded him, as the camra was moved and snapped over and over again. That was enough, he made quick handsigns, poofing away instantly without another word. The crowd gasped in surprise, the young kids squealing, the girls moaning in disappointment, as the journalist ran over to Kenpu, who was trying to fight his way out of his own mob of newly acquired fans.

"Wow, the great Itachi Uchiha was forced to retreat by a bunch of civilians armed with paper and pencils. Sasuke would love to hear this." Junki smiled as Itachi hesitantly stood up from the bushes, green leaves falling from his hair and clothing.

"Thank you for your assistance," Itachi remarked sarcastily, glaring at them loathingly, he then raised an eyebrow. "Why aren't you two being attacked?"

"I paid my cousin to transform into me and lead them away, he only charged me twenty ryo too!" Junki grinned brightly, surprised that it had worked, but grateful all the same.

"Many people are sulking because they lost a lot of money betting against me. So I'm not exactly the favorite right now." Hibiki smirked wider, feeling Junki's arm slip through his own, guessing that she had done the same to Itachi.

"Well, gentlemen, now that we've returned, victorious, from the battle field, why don't we go out dancin'! We could find you two a couple of pretty girls and have a right good time!" She laughed, pulling them down the street, ignoring the flashes of camras and adoring ohs of children.

"No," They both anwered, instantly feeling dread at her next words.

"To bad I already arranged for us to meet up with the Sand, Mist, and Cloud later tonight in a training field by the lake and the most beautiful flowers," Junki laughed, remembering her conversation with Choko, Hakuro, and a very persuasive chat with Urami. "Besides, you two old farts need to loosen up and have some fun."

"Old farts?"

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><p><strong>So there you have it! The end of the exams, but this actual story will continue for another chapter, then the epilogues.<strong>

**Fun Fact: The sequel will be centered around the war of the Rice Country**


	23. The Fate of Prodigies

"I blame you." Kenpu groaned, glaring irritably at Itachi as he huddled with the other young boys. The soft, pointy grass poked him every time his shifted his body, the sun just throwing a red, yellow, and orange ray over the sky. Dragonflies zipped drunkenly across the surface of the pond like lake, that was connected, surprisingly, to the underground cave they spent their second exam in. The girls were laying out a ridiculiously large blanket near the pond, Amai and Hakuro setting out the food while Natsumi, Urami and Junki argued vociferously on the music.

"And how, Kenpu, is it my fault?" Itachi sighed, glancing behind him slightly to make sure the girls were occupied elsewhere. He wasn't afraid of them, no, but any boy knew that a smart man kept his mouth shut and his thoughts to his self when a girl was being bossy, a stupid one smarted off and ended up on the floor.

"It was your teammate that planned all this, wasn't it? It couldn't have been that hard to say no," Raiden mumbled, picking at the grass boredly and dropping it carelessly on his lap. Hibiki laid on his back next to him, hands behind his head as if he was looking up at the stars, of course they all knew he wasn't.

"I'd like to see you try and deal with her on a daily basis. She cool and everything when she's happy, but I don't even want to be in the same room when she's upset. She gets so freaking loud." Hibiki grumbled, the moist night air tickling his face.

"You think she's bad, I'd love to switch places with you," Raiden snorted, glancing over at him, a small smile forming on his lips. "Urami is the definition of moody, I swear one moment she's cool with me and we're friends, the next minute she's threatening me with my life!"

"At least Junki and the twins are hot, I'm stuck with Natsumi." Kenpu shrugged, blinking quickly when all the guys stared at him.

"I didn't think you cared about appearances." Itachi admitted, slightly confused. He ran his fingers though his bangs before leaning back a bit, letting his normally perfect posture sag.

"And I don't know why your complaining about Natsumi, she may not be hot per say, but she's cute." Raiden countered, swatting at a long golden dragonfly that landed on his knee, it's wings almost undectecatable as it took to the air.

"Hey guys, can we talk about something other than looks. Not that I mind listening to you guys talk about them or anything, but it's not like I have any idea what you're talking about you know." Hibiki suggested, annoyance dripping from his words as he sat up, his pony tail falling slightly over his shoulder.

"Sorry," Raiden winced; rubbing the back of his neck guiltily. Kenpu simply chuckled, running his fingers slowly thought his dirty blond hair.

* * *

><p>"I would have never guessed that you liked sweets."Hakuro smoothed out the blanket absentmindedly, her long blond hair falling over her shoulders, hiding her face slightly. Amai glanced up at her with pink eyes, darkened by the lack of light.<p>

"Hm, I only like Anko flavored Mochi really." Amai sat on her knees, scooting over when Urami plopped down next to her, Junki and Natsumi following soon after.

"Well my darlings everything's done!" Junki announced, glancing over her shoulder, "No thanks to some people of dumber gender!" She said loudly, flashing Itachi a smile when his eyes flashed red. The boys stood up, and slowly walked over to their female teammates.

"Hey, does anyone know where the Sand chicks are at?" Kenpu questioned as he sat behind Hakuro, trying to distance himself from Natsumi. Just because they were relaxing didn't mean he liked her, respected her maybe but no where near liked.

"We're here." Haruhi's calm voice made everyone turn their heads, the three girls stood near the far end of the field. Haruhi was carrying a plain wooden basket, covered by a green cloth, Choko's arms were filled with plates, napkins and cups, while Imu balanced a round box and tall cylander in her arms. They set them down carefully in the middle of the group, sitting down slowly.

"Oh, you're going to love the cakes, there so tiny and all but we found this one lady, she was really pretty, that made them custom for us and they were free to, and…Hm!" Imu slapped her hand over Choko's mouth, earning a chuckle from everyone. Haruhi flipped open the box, snorts of delight and excitement radiated from everyone, Hibiki simply raised an eyebrow and nudged Itachi lightly in the rib.

"What is it?" He mumbled, his hand feeling the rough pattern of the wool quilt under them, the fibers popping up and bushing against his finger tips.

"The cakes. A few are shaped like music notes, most likely for the twins. There are swords, boomerangs, and shuriken. There's one shaped similarly to a snowman, dragons, snakes, the Uchiha crest, and the Hyuuga crest." Itachi picked up one, gently grabbing Hibiki's palm and opening it, placing one of the cakes in his hand. Hibiki used his other hand to examine the treat, a sphere connected to a slim stick, most likely a toothpick by a thread. "That one is yours, it's a copy of your senbon with the poison smoke capsle on it. The toothpick is connected to the purple cake by a string."

"They're all beautiful," Hakuro praised, biting off one of the spike on the shuriken.

"Taste good, too." Kenpu popped one of the dragon's in his mouth, humming slightly as the flavors danced across his tonge.

"You know this reminds me of the time we went on a mission to the Rain Country for a week. Choko forgot to pack real food, so we were stuck eating pocky the entire time." Haruhi comment, earning a few laughes from the group. They sat, stuffing their faces with the sweet decorative cakes, sharing stories of past missions and mess-ups. The birds quieted down as the crickets lined up to play their nightly symphony. The festival downtown was now in full swing, the music drifting into their privet clearings, Amai began to lightly hum the tune.

"They used to play this song all the time back in the Leaf." Hibiki mumbled, his heightened hearing feeling the music as if the band was a few feet away. Junki smiled, making eye contact with Hakuro and Choko, before she jumped up. Wrapping her fingers around Choko's wrist she pulled her up, the two girls began giggling as they spun in circles, dancing wildly around the shocked group.

Raiden laughed, clapping his hands in time with the beat. His hands froze for a moment when Urami managed to coax a unsure Amai up, they began to copy Choko and Junki's movements. Amai stumbled a bit, slightly unbalanced as they twirled slowly in perfect sync with the music. Hakuro watched them for a bit then rolled her eyes.

"Why not?" She breathed, linking arms with Natsumi. The two girls stumbled as they tried to find the rhythem, swaying quickly back and forth. The boys, Haruhi, and Imu simply watched them, smiling at their lighthearted fun. The song ended, and they bowed to each other, their eyes dancing with young enjoyment.

Itachi looked at them, his dark eyes reflecting the relaxed bliss of the night sky, while his head tried to contain a ravage cyclone of thoughts. Here they all were, young shinobi from different nations, some allies some enemies, yet they were all sitting here, laughing and carrying on, as if they were schoolmates. According to the Nations, he shouldn't be able to stand Kenpu, while Haruhi and Amai should be holding the other under the lake. They weren't though, in fact there was no hostility at all, such a contrast from their behavior in the three weeks.

Could it be that maybe, they were all just normal teenagers, looking for some place to fit in rather than shinobi designed and eager to kill? Could their entire history be pointless, wiped away like chalk on the ground at the smallest signal of peace?

Meeting Kenpu had shown him, while the Mist could be very violent t they were also very close, more family oriented, so protective of their own that it lead to them brutally maiming anyone who was a threat. Kenpu turned this to the extreme, because it was what he was taught was acceptable.

Amai and Urami were a perfect example of the aftershocks of a power struggle, children forced to flee their homes to survive, an entire clans freedom resting on their shoulders until they became old enough to fufill that assigned destiny. To complete them, Raiden, who was longing for acceptance, pushed himself to unearthly limits. Despite his past struggles and betrayals, he didn't turn his back to everyone, he simply tried harder.

Natsumi was in a similar position, but was instead a bargaining chip used by the Whirlpool to please to Mist. She clawed her way into the ranks, but was still rejected, not because of who she was, but where she was from. Hakuro was lucky, she had a fine family, and decent friends, yet she lacked confidence. Was that the price of being born lucky, lacking a personal piece inside of you?

The Sand was always struggling to power, pushing it's children to find more strength, more power. Mercy was considered weak, and outsiders were considered scum. Fighting was all the elders knew, so in turn it was all their children and grandchildren knew. Imu picked fights with Haruhi, not for personal reasons like both girls thought, but because Haruhi had power, and Imu wanted power. To Imu beating Haruhi meant gaining power, something she was programmed to do.

The Leaf, although it was considered the strongest of the Nations, and all it citizens lucky, it was destroying itself slowly inside out. The Hyuuga's crippled their own cousins to secure their own positions in power. The Uchiha was selfish, grabbing at power like a child and lashing out when being denied that power. The Nara's were smart, but lazy, and this often lead to unnecessary causalties. The Elders were stuck in their ways, eliminating anything and everyone who they belived would deviate from the path they designed for the village.

The ninja world forced pain on it's children needlessly. Take Hibiki for example, his clan detested him, isolated him from the world until he was eight, preaching that his blindness was a disgraceful punishment from the Gods and he should be ashamed for it. His mother, a single voice, was the only one to tell him otherwise, pushing him to be strong, and when she did that, she put him though a pain no one could translate. He became a ninja and repeatedly failed, fighting himself to push past that failure and keep going. He did succeed, but with sorrow Itachi knew he would not make it past twenty, not one of these people he was sitting with would.

It was a depressing thought, but it was unfortuantly true. Hakuro, with her large jade eyes, or Junki with her pearl ones would never get to gaze at their villages and think of the many changes over the years. Natsumi and Choko would not grow up to marry handsome young men. Natsumi or Haruhi would never have children with their loving husbands. Kenpu and Hibiki would never grow old to tell stories of their adventures to their grand children. He and Amai would never have a chance to lead their clans. Urami and Imu would never meet up again and gossip about their lives since the Chunnin exams.

No, none of them would make it past twenty, for the sad simple fact that they were prodigies. They would be given the suicidal missions, simply because they had the biggest chance of coming back. They would be on the front lines, simply because it gave everyone behind them courage. They would be the targets of countless assassination attempts, simply because someone felt threatened by their existence. They were born to die, just as countless other protiges died before them, young and victims of their ancestors' mistakes.

Itachi looked around the group, Junki had managed to drag Hibiki up to dance with her, the smallest tint of red on his pale cheeks. Hakuro was showing Kenpu how were to put his hands and feet, while the Raiden twirled Choko around good naturedly, both laughing at how ridiculous they looked. The twins were playing cards against Haruhi and Imu, who were dropping their rivalry long enough to work together. Natsumi was watching them, the toothpick set lazily in between her lips.

Itachi felt his heart tighten, it didn't matter how strong they were, or how good hearted. Their fates were written out by time, for the redemption of past mistakes and a prosperous future, they would all be sacrificed. It was their duty, their destiny, as prodigies.

**End**

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><p><strong>Well I don't know how I feel about this, this is my first completed story, but it's not really done since there is a sequal. I had so much fun writing this, and you guys have been awesome! So this is the end of Itachi:Prodigy Exams, well there will be the epiloges, but those don't really count since it'll be like a paragraph for each person. I'll post on here when the Sequal will be up, so keep an eye out for that. So thank you so much for everything, you guys have been awesome!<strong>

**FunFact: The Sequel is still not named.**


	24. Epilogue

Epiloge:

"Let's go already," Urami snapped impatiently as they crouched, invisible, in the undergrowth of the forest. Amai said nothing, her pink eyes shadowed over as she looked down at their target, a middle aged man surrounded by twenty or so goons, a small wooden carrage filled with weapons behind him. Raiden glanced at her, frown set in place as he waited for her order.

It has been almost a year since the Chunnin Exams, eight months and fifteen days exactaly. Amai, as the only newly appointed Chunnin took over their team as the official leader. This was their first B rank mission, so failure was not acceptable, it would only show that they were incompetent kids who couldn't handle themselves on the battle field without adult supervision.

"Alright, Raiden." She ordered, silently counting on him. He nodded, vanishing and reappearing in the middle of the group, a kunai held firmly to the man's neck. The goons sprang up, rushing forward, immune that their leader was being held at knife point. The ground under them shifted, roots springing upwards and wrapping them tightly in a green and brown cocoon. The wiggled violently, their lungs stinging as the air left their bodies.

"What…wh-who are you!" The man stuttered, sweat dripping down his face as a vine snaked up his body, binding his hands behind his back. Pushing down on his shoulder, Raiden forced him onto his knees, the roots constricting his ankles together.

"Hanimaru, Rogue ninja of the Cloud village, you are under arrest under the charges of attempting to overthrow the Fuedal lord of the Lightning Country, and for the destruction of over twenty temples across the Shinobi nations." Amai drawled, her pink eyes looking uninterested into his terrified grey ones.

"Li-listen, I'm not Hanimaru! I-I'm just a decoy, I swear!" The man whimpered, cringing when the group rolled their eyes and began to drag him, like he was luggage, towards the trees.

They were all thrown into the sky as the trees around the perimeter exploded, the trees hissed and splinted as the fire consumed them, the dried grass catching the flames quickly. Urami slammed on the earth, quickly rolling as the waves of flames quickly approached her, the grass fueling it. She glanced at her arm, biting her lip at the long burn wrapping around her forearm to her elbow, it was going to leave a hideous scar. The smoke was thick, and white, ash flying into her lashes as she searched franticly for her sister.

A body blurred out of the weapon's carriage, dashing throught the fire sloppily. Amai appered in front of him, swinging her foot into the man's chest. He tumbled backwards, scurrying away from the fire on his hands and knees. The burning roots attacking him, whipping at his legs and back viciously, tears flowed down his grey eyes, a cry of pure agony, before he slumped over, unconscious with sever burns.

_Urami! Grab the fake as well! We're leaving, before this gets out of control! _Amai commanded to her sister mentally, grunting as she slung the uncouncious man onto her back. She took to the air, her clothes clinging to her body with sweat. Barely brushing past the flames, Amai landed, crouched in a tree, sprinting forward towards her sister, who was a few feet ahead of her.

"Well, I guess he was a decoy after all." Urami mumbled, glancing at the scared man on Amai's back. The decoy and the actual Hanimaru were similar in appearance; grey eyes, smokey grey hair, tan skin, and rather muscular. The only noticeable difference was their height, nose, and forehead.

Amai stopped, letting her feet drop to the ground below, Urami following her lead questioningly. "What is it?"

"Raiden." Amai answered, Urami's rolled her eyes, dropping the decoy lazily on the ground, Amai doing the same. "We have to go back."

"Fine, I bet he's just playing Mr. Save the Trees and putting out the fire." Urami snorted, clasping her hands together, "Voice Style: Weed Lullaby." Yellow flowers and crab crass crained upwards, wrapping gently around the two unconscious men, pulling them under the ground slightly.

"Let's go."

* * *

><p>Raiden's head throbbed, he tried to bring a hand up, only to find he was restrained. His eyes snapped open, panic set in as he began to yank at the restraints behind his back, wiggling his legs, only to see they were bond as well. His eyes darted around, trying to take in everything. The walls were stone, chipped and brown, so that meant he was underground. There was a dark purple blanket thrown carelessly onto his body, and only then did he realize that he wasn't in the same clothes as before.<p>

He took a deep breath, his white hair falling into his face, tickling his ears lightly. The ropes were tight, expertly knotted, the same for his legs. The room was lit dimly by flickering candles, his shadow danced on the walls around him. Scooting backwards, he rested his back against the meeting point of two walls, trying to recollect what happened. Nothing, only the mission, the fake Hanimaru, and the explosion.

The door opened, a tall figure stepping in lightly. Raiden squinted, the light burning his sensitive grey pupils. He held back a scream of terror when the figure smiled at him, but a tear still managed to slip away from him.

"No, no, no, no!" Raiden's rant became louder and more desperate with each word, he yanked violently at his restraints, ignoring the deep scratches forming and the blood dripping down.

"Well, well, it seems I finally have you back again young Raiden." The man's femine voice made a barradge of suppressed memories, scalpels, needles, tubes, and deranged smiles from his childhood assult him. Raiden fell over, tears now falling freely from his face.

The entire mission was a trap, all of it was just a set up to capture him again. The man walked forward, crouching down, he placed cold, slim fingers on Raiden's cheek. His golden eyes framed by purple markings made Raiden gag, forcing himself to stay conscious, he bit his lip, a small trickle of blood flowing.

The man grinned, standing up, he turned away, his long black hair swishing after him. As he glanced back at Raiden finally, his licked his lips, a long pink tounge gliding across thin pale lips before he closed the door, shutting Raiden off from the light.

"No."

* * *

><p>"I'm happy for you, Choko." Haruhi sipped her tea quietly, blue eyes watching her bubbly teammate with intrest. Imu sat by her side, pushing the noodles around in the broth, bored, but both girls knew she was secretly pround as well.<p>

"Yeah! I'm so happy they chose me! I wasn't expecting it at all, I mean I'm going to miss you guys and everything but this is a great oppinity!" Choko grinned, bouncing in her seat. "Kazekage-sama even said that some of the other nations are each sending one Shinobi to help the Rice fight of the rebel forces. I'll get to be in charge of my own unit and everything, plus there will be some of the people we met at the Chunnin Exams as well, hey do you think they might send.."

"Choko, darling you really have to stop rambling like that, it's not becoming." Imu sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. Choko smiled apologetically, but continued fanisizing about her future home. It was temporary of course, until the Rice had set up it's own ninja village.

"We've gotten permission from Kazekage-sama to escort you, but as soon as we get back Imu and I will be assingened to our own duties." Haruhi confirmed, slightly surprised by her new position. She would be preparing to become one of the Kazekage's special guards, an Anbu position held for the most talented of Shinobi.

"Yes, as soon as we get back I'll be going on 'womenly' missions." Imu chuckled, thinking of her new mentor, Kaissei, was well know for using her charm and beauty to get information. Imu had apparently been on her list since the academy, and was the only Kunochi to stay. She, like Imu, was beautiful, deceptive, charming, and flirtatious.

"Hello, ladies," Two boys, both with green hair and orange eyes slid into the both next to Choko, flashing them all brilliant smiles.

"Hello Banira and Aoti." Haruhi nodded to them, her red hair spilling over her shoulders. Imu winked at the two brothers, only receiving small laughs in return. Choko's parents had been killed in the Third Great Shinobi war, leaving her and her two brothers to fend for themselves. It was a wonder to everyone who met them, how they could be so cheery. Haruhi even wondered if it was a mask at times, to cover Choko's sadness.

"I see our little sister hasn't drowned you in honey yet!" Aoti laughed, messing up Choko's hair. She grinned widely at him, leaning against him slightly. "Can't believe she's deserting us though." He sighed, pulling Banira up and swinging an arm over her shoulder.

"We'll be taking our leave now though, if Baki catches us slacking off again, I swear he's going to drop us in a bit and leave us there." Banira chuckled, before both boys poofed from the room, earning an annoyed glance from the owner.

"Your brothers are going on a mission? I thought they just came back from one in the Star Village." Imu raised an eye brow. Both boys were high Chunnin level, soon to be Jonnin, so it wasn't uncommen for them to have multipul missions at a time, Choko would be leaving next week, so hopefully they made it back in time to say goodbye.

"Yep, this time they're going to the Leaf though, delivering some confidential stuff." Choko giggled, looking up at the ceiling. "It's going to be so weird in a few weeks you know, it'll be hard to believe that it's only been a little less than a year." Choko's eyes lit up, "You know what we should do, we should host a reunion! I'd love to see Junki again, and Hakuro, and the twins, and Kenpu, and Raiden, and Hibiki, and Itachi, and Na.."

"We get it, you'd love to see everyone again!" Imu snapped, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Haruhi smiled, bringing her cup to her lips to hide it. It would be intresting seeing everyone again, it would be a year in exactly nine months and twenty four days.

* * *

><p>"Hello mother," Hibiki walked quietly into the hospital room, Itachi and Junki standing outside as they waited, patiently, him. His mother's golden eyes turned to him, a small smile on her lips. Her short dark hair, exactally the same color of Hibiki's, resting in a bun at the top of her head.<p>

"Hibiki, are you leaving already?" Her voice was smooth, unlike her hands that were rough from the many incisions made by needles and scalpels. Hibiki nodded sitting on the edge of her bed, he felt for her hands, grabbing one inbetween both of his hands gently, afraid to hurt her.

"I'm sorry I have to leave, at a time like this." Hibiki mumbled, his face down, closing his eyes as his mother stroked his cheek with her free hand. His mother had just been announced terminal; she wouldn't live another year, at best maybe a few months. "But, Mukushi will take care of you,"

"You know I hate it when you call him that, he is your father, despite your differences." She said quietly, "I'm so proud of you, not only have you turned what others have seen as a curse into a blessing, but you've become a Chunnin, and now, you're an ambassador for the Rice Country."

"I'm an advisor, Mother." He corrected, taking in a breath as he felt Itachi's chakra spike, it was time to leave, "I'm sorry, but my friends are waiting for me." He released her hand, allowing her to kiss his forehead before walking out of the room.

Itachi and Junki quietly flanked him until they were outside of the village gates. "I'm going to be so bored!" Junki groaned loudly, slightly startling her companions.

"And why is that Junki?" Itachi questioned, not really caring, but it was entertaining to hear her rant. Hibiki sensed what he was doing and shook his head, grinning slightly, spirit uplifted.

"Hibiki's ditching us and you're a socially constipated stick! I won't have anyone to have sarcasm wars with!" Junki cried hanging her head in mortification. Hibiki let out a small laugh, quieting down when he felt Itachi's chakra snap at him. They both improved on matching their chakra to their moods, and Hibiki found it to be somewhat scary yet useful.

"Why must you always insult me?" Itachi sighed, quickinging his pace so he was beside Hibiki, leaving Junki to trail behind. She tapped her finger to her chin, humming slightly.

"Well, and Itachi I'm only saying this for your own good, you are an insult to children everywhere. You talk like a prissy grownup, you eat like a preppy grownup, you glare like a constipated grownup, yet you have the mood swings of a angsty teenager. Not one childlike quality in you." Junki declared, ignoring the red glare she was receiving over Itachi's shoulder. Hibiki just kept on grinning, loving every moment.

"You're insane." Itachi conclude, letting his eyes fade back.

"No, I'm a girl, you know the thing your mother was ten years ago." She retorted, flashing him her famous smile.

"Well Junki why don't you just get some friends that are girls." Hibiki suggested, quickly rebounding off on a weak branch onto a stronger one near it.

"Are you kidding me?" Junki gasped, completely appaled, "Girls are backstabbing, gossiping, snakes why would I want to be friends with them?"

"That's completely biased. I highly doubt Choko can be considered a backstabbing snake." Itachi drawled, an image of the talkative green haired girl popped into his mind.

Hibiki listened to them, feeling his chest tighten, he was going to miss them. He still had a hard time believing Itachi when he told him it had only been ten months exactally since the exams.

* * *

><p>Hakuro fisted the back of Natsumi's shirt, holding the girl tightly. Natsumi was doing the same, grief at the thought of leaving the girl she had come to know as a sister behind. Kenpu stood, arms crossed and face blank beside them. Two Whirpool Jonnin stood behind Natsumi , one coughed into his first, reciving a dirty look from Kenpu. It was finally time for Natsumi to go home, she had managed to stay eleven months and seven days after the exams.<p>

Hakuro released Natsumi, smiling though shiney green eyes as she stepped back. Natsumi did the same glancing at Kenpu, who smirked at her.

"Bye, freak." His mismatched eyes met hers and she smiled. Freak, had slowly developed into a term of endearment between friends. She waved goodbye to them, glancing back, before disappearing into the water with her assigned escorsts.

"We should go visit him you know," Kenpu noted, glancing at Hakuro. She nodded, and they both turned back to their own village and headed straight towards the hospital to visit an old friend.

* * *

><p>The Whirlpool was barely a two hour swim from the Mist, a short distance that required an alliance if there wasn't to be a never ending war. Upon surfacing, Natsumi blinked back tears, wipping her eyes with the back of her hand.<p>

"Welcome home, Natsumi." One of the Jonnin said softly. Natsumi bit back a laugh, the village was almost completely rebuilt. After the last attack had left it completely in ruins, the villagers had begun the long and backbreaking process of rebuilding.

"Yeah, home." Natsumi smiled, running forwards though the gates, zigzagging through the street and burst into a small hut, letting herself in. A sturdy looking blue haired women greeted her, both staring at eachother. Natsumi felt herself being wrapped up in muscular arms, a hand on her head.

"Natsumi, my daughter, my sheath, my child. Welcome home." The women sobbed, stroking Natusmi's hair lovingly. Natsumi leaned into her mother's touch, tears leaking from her face.

"I've missed you so much, but before we can catch up, I need to find Moshi." Natsumi reluctantly pulled away from the embrace, eyes set firmly. Her mother wipped her eyes, nodded and led her out the door.

"Eh, so you're back are ya?" The man spat into the grass, earing a disguisted look from Natsumi's mother. Natsumi flipped her pony tail off her shoulder, blue eyes glaring at the man. "What's got you so worked up, dolly?"

"You placed a Gen Jutsu on a boy from the Mist a few years back. Release it." She accused, feeling her mother stiffen behind her. Moshi was the only one alive capable of putting someone under a Gen Jutsu that lasted over many years and could only be dispelled by him.

"Ya point? Oh I see, you want me to lift it, eh, is that it?" He scratched the back of his head, not really caring how she knew or why she cared, all he wanted was to get back to his Sake. "All right, dolly, I'll do it, only cuz it was you who asked, ya hear." The man laughed snapping his fingers. "There all done."

* * *

><p>Hakuro sobbed onto the boy's shoulder, gripping him tightly in her arms. Kenpu was beside her, hugging them both as he fought to keep the water from dripping out of his eyes. The boy looked at them with glazed over blue eyes, his black hair flattened by the years it spent trapped against the pillow, his skin pale from the lack of direct sunlight.<p>

"Kenpu, Hakuro," his voice was scratchy and deep for his age, he slowly lifted his arms, hugging them back . "I'm awake."

* * *

><p><strong>Well this story is officially 100% done, except for the sequel. Hehe, that would be funny wouldn't it Shein, a sequel titled The Sequal, it'd be easy to find! Unfortunatly I will find a proper name for it, so sorry. Oh and if you don't know who that is at the end of the story, you may want to go back a few chapters.<strong>

**FunFact: Choko's name means Chocolet, Banira means vanilla, and Aoti means green tea, all flavors of Ice Cream!**


	25. Sequal posted

Sequal posted: Itachi: Anbu Wars


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